Luck
by yuugiri
Summary: They said luck was what happened when preparation met opportunity. That must mean she was just really very unlucky. GaaIno.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Truly, the inspiration to write this story came because of the _heat_ lately. Once again, this was meant to be a one-shot, but for some reason, by the time I got to the middle of this chapter, the plans changed, and in the end I decided to make it a, uhm, maybe a four to five-chapter fic, and it started getting out of control as I typed. Ho ho ho._

_The story takes place maybe ten or so years after the war, regardless of who won it in the manga, so let's just say that the good guys won, and none of the main characters died in it, and Naruto is the Hokage. Okay? XD_

_Ah, and another note (MANGA SPOILER ALERT!), for the sake of the story, I gave Gaara's sand a… _personality._ Now, I'm not really sure of Gaara's mother's character, but I've always liked the idea of Karura's will – not Shukaku's – as the one that was actually controlling Gaara's sand to protect her son. _

_That said, read on!_

* * *

She had Haruno Sakura to thank for ignoring her health on that time of year when the Five Kage of the five great nations gathered in the Land of Iron. The gathering was a sort of follow-up to the peace treaty they had signed after the war.

And because Sakura chose today of all days to catch the stomach flu, Yamanaka Ino was the second in line as medic nin to take up the job of bodyguard for Uzumaki Naruto along with Nara Shikamaru. Not that Ino had complained when she learned of the sudden changes. In fact, she was a bit excited. It was going to be her first time in the Land of Iron, and having heard of its distinct culture and a climate totally different from the Leaf, she was more than willing to take up the offer, get Naruto's ass on that chair along with the other Kage, and sight-see after everything was done. She had already made a schedule for the visit, and had prepared her outfit for the trip.

Unfortunately, she did not jot down the part where she had to be snowed in inside a mountain cave by an avalanche, with none other than the Kazekage himself, Sabaku no Gaara.

They said luck was what happened when preparation met opportunity. That must mean Ino was just really _very_ unlucky. She was most definitely not prepared for this. And as she looked over her shoulder unseeingly into the darkness and hear the man breathing not a few feet away from her, she could only swallow hard and wait for her eyes to adjust.

It was by pure coincidence that they had bumped into Gaara at the foot of the Three Wolves Mountain with Temari and Kankurou, and it came naturally that they found themselves traveling together through the wind and snow to the Land of Iron. It had been a slow trek, and none of them really minded. Naruto and Gaara had slipped into a silent conversation about the trade between Suna and Konoha, while Temari and Shikamaru had launched into a word battle which Ino thought to be endearing and annoyingly sugary at the same time.

And of course, that left Kankurou to be automatically stuck to Ino. And hadn't the man been disgruntled at finding _Ino _instead of _Sakura? _Nonetheless, the puppet master did not drag the disappointment long and was in no time talking to her as he always did when she was dragged by Shikamaru to visit the Sand for _'political and diplomatic purposes'_, which, if translated, meant a _'date with Temari'_.

The samurai had warned them to be careful on their way through the mountains. Because of the later climate changes after the war, avalanches were common in the Three Wolves. And maybe it was really just plain bad luck that one of the rules passed down with the peace treaty was that all ninja were not allowed to use any form of jutsu within the mountain parameter on the day of the Kage Meeting. This was a rule agreed upon by the five nations, thinking that this was a good way of promoting peace and trust between the villages, even if it were just for that day. They were even limited to bringing just one weapon per person. Ino had her trusty ninjato with her.

Too bad a single ninjato wouldn't be able to dig their way out of their snow grave.

When the avalanche came in one rumbling, white wave, their party of six, who had lived in sunny and close-to-smoldering environments, had no idea what to do but scatter like flies. The last thing Ino remembered before she got swallowed up in the sea of freezing snow was a rough hand grabbing her collar, red flaming hair and a one-character kanji that read 'love'. And then everything went painfully cold, painfully dark, and painfully stuffy.

And when she opened her eyes to the darkness of a mountain cave, she had found herself wet, shivering and sprawled over something that was equally wet and shivering, and hard and soft at the same time. Her face was buried against a comforting warmth that smelled like sage and sand. It took her a second to realize that the Kazekage had been the one who had saved her from a cold and untimely death. It had taken her even _longer _to realize that she was crushing said Kazekage under her weight.

She had apologized profusely, at the same time thanking him for saving her. The man had merely sat up, doing god knows what in the dark, and asked her if she was all right. She had said yes, and that was the last passing words they had in the span of the ten minutes they were in that cave.

That was why Ino practically jumped when he talked again.

"Do you have a flare?"

Ino turned her eyes to the direction of the voice. She could barely make out a vague shadow in the darkness. "I tried lighting one a while ago. They're all wet from the snow, Kazekage-sama."

"Hn," was his reply, then more shuffling.

Ino plunged her shaky hand into her leather satchel containing her supplies and started taking out random objects she couldn't even see. She was cold and everything she had was wet, if not covered in a thin layer of snow and ice. She needed to do something. She knew she should have brought her tinderbox. Serves her right for just thinking about this as some sort of opportunity to go shopping at a foreign land.

But then again, this was a peace treaty follow-up. She wasn't expecting anything of the like to happen.

_It's not as if avalanches were a threat to peace or whatever…_

She was surprised when something sparked in the corner of her eye, and she gasped when she saw Gaara with his left hand liftied a few inches from his face with… _something –_ spinning so fast that it was emitting an eerie, if not faint, yellow glow bright enough to see each other's faces. Was that… _sand?_ Of course. The friction was probably making the light.

Gaara, who Ino always thought to be quite stoic majority of the time, looked even more emotionless in the shadows cast by his swirling sand.

Ino frowned. "With all due respect, Kazekage-sama, but the treaty states that we aren't supposed to use jutsu within the Three Wolves today."

The movement was so slight but Ino did not miss the narrowing of Gaara's eyes. "It will be our secret, then," he drawled flatly, and he raised their light source as he turned away from her, examining their surroundings. The light was too weak to see anything further than several feet "We're alone here."

Ino looked over her shoulder to eye the wall of snow that had replaced the cave opening. "The others…?"

"They are probably taking shelter somewhere," Gaara said levelly, and he conveniently found a nook on the wall to stick his spinning sand into.

And then he started taking off his clothes.

Ino's hands were instantly over her eyes. "Kazekage-sama!" she shrieked. "Wha-wha-what are you d-doing?"

"Trying to survive."

Ino – damn her womanly urges to watch a hot man undress right in front of her – couldn't help but peek between her fingers nervously. Gaara was down to a pair of plain black boxers and was now neatly trying to arrange his shed clothes on the floor of the cave.

Ino swallowed hard and tried – but failed – in keeping her eyes to herself. Gaara was a sight to behold, for one. For someone who did not look too inclined to physical labor, given that his sand did practically everything for him, he looked… _very _fit. Well-toned abs, just-right muscled arms and legs. He was pale, and Ino knew it did not have anything to do with the cold, and except for the faint tan line at his neck and wrists where his clothes always covered him, he was like porcelain.

Gaara finished his task in spreading out his clothes, and he turned to her, uttering a single word that nearly sent Ino reeling, "Undress."

Ino's arms were instantly around her. "Err… "

Gaara blinked at her in the dim light, paused, then after a moment he nodded. And the next thing Ino knew they were once again plunged into darkness as their light source faded into a shower of sparkling sand.

Ino bit her lip and fingered her flack jacket, heavy with the snow that had seeped into her clothes and melted with her body heat. Gaara was right. She needed to get out her wet clothes before she froze to death. And god forbid they die on foreign soil.

_That would break into international warfare. _

Ino groaned. Her dad was going to kill her if she died this way…

She was thankful that Gaara had been gentleman enough to kill the lights for her, but getting butt naked in a cold cave, in the dark, was still not an easy feat, even for a ninja, since she could barely feel her fingers. It took a while, but she managed to peel away the wet layers of clothing off of her and carelessly discard them somewhere to her left. When she was finally down to her underwear, she clumsily felt for her clothes and tried as best she could to spread them out as Gaara did with his. She gasped when she felt something grainy slither over her hand.

"Don't be alarmed. That's just my sand," came Gaara's voice from somewhere to her left.

Ino withdrew her hand from her clothes as she felt them slip out of her grasp, the sand taking over the job for her. She instead wrapped her arms around her, and rubbed her shoulders briskly, trying to bring back warmth to her body.

"Get away from the snow. It's warmer here. Come over," came Gaara's voice again, echoes bouncing across the cave walls.

Ino staggered to her knees, feeling suddenly self-conscious as all her clothes drifted away from her with Gaara's sand. "Come where? I can't see… "

"Follow my voice. I'm here."

Ino pushed herself against the floor and climbed to her feet clumsily, feeling her legs shake beneath her from the cold, and she took a step forward. Her foot snagged against something – probably her satchel – and she let out a yell when she lost her balance. She felt something grab her elbow, and she leaned against it gratefully.

"Are you all right?"

Ino involuntarily took a deep breath when she realized it was none other than Gaara who had helped her regain her balance. His grip was firm, and she suddenly felt self-conscious. "Yes, thank you, Kazekage-sama."

She heard him shift in the dark, and the next thing that happened caught her off-guard. The hand that was gripping her elbow snaked around her bare waist and pulled her against his half-naked form.

"What – !" she tried to protest, but was just too shaken up to free herself as Gaara pulled her down to a sitting position on the cold floor of that cave. One moment, the freezing air was pressing against her naked body, then the next moment she was being enveloped by something noisy and comfortably warm all around her. It was unmistakably Gaara's sand, slithering under her, forming a sort of sand carpet to shield her bottom and feet from the ice-cold cave floor. The sand barrier grazed her bare shoulders, her back, her neck, and for a brief moment she actually forgot that Gaara's arm was still around her waist, and that one side of his unclothed body was pressed flush against hers.

When the sand finally stopped moving, it was then that suddenly made her fully aware of the body pressed against her. Gaara was breathing evenly through his nose, and she could feel that breath against her right ear. Well, this was not new. Sharing body heat was one of the very basic things they learned in survival training class. Surely, it didn't – _shouldn't _– matter that it was the _Kazekage's _body heat that she was sharing, though they never were personal acquaintances. But then again, life and death situations like these didn't really care if it was a personal acquaintance you were trapped with in a cave, almost ready to die of frostbite. She was a ninja, after all. And the Kazekage was a ninja, too.

Like, one of the youngest Suna nin to ever become Kage of the Sand, but a warm body was a warm body. And she should be grateful for the sand coat, right?

_Right?_

…

Then what?

Ino swallowed hard, thinking of something wise to say at a moment like this. "Your sand is handy, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara's response was quick. "I don't have much dry, usable sand in my gourd, and I can't make any more from the terrain here. It's too wet."

"Do you have enough to blast a hole through the snow to get us out?"

"You mean enough to start another avalanche if we do? Yes, just about enough."

Ino raised her eyebrows at his unseen face. Sarcasm was the lowest form of humor, and she didn't really know the Kazekage _had_ a sense of humor to begin with. She lowered her chin on top of the bit of sand around her neck and was surprised when it shifted obediently to accommodate the shape of her face perfectly. "What should we do, sir?"

"We shall wait for our clothes to dry, and then we move."

Ino nodded. A lever-headed decision. She raised her face up and looked over to her right to where she could sense the air moving, ignoring for a brief moment that Gaara was still breathing against the side of her face. "Judging from the draft, there could be another way out. This cave must extend further inside the mountain."

She felt Gaara nod, and she could feel his nose brush against the side of her cheek. "You are right. Though judging from the echo of our voices, it must be a long tunnel. I'm using a bit of the sand in my gourd to absorb the moisture from our clothes and your flares. It will only take a moment. Then we can move and find the others."

Ino nodded again, and she turned her head away from him. There was nothing to worry about. Naruto and the others, she knew, were as safe as they were right now, and she could bet that they were looking for them this very moment. Sure, she was not used to this new terrain, but she had a lever-headed man who was as resourceful as she had heard he was. There was absolutely nothing to –

"What the – !" she gasped, suddenly jumping from her place, and had she not been surrounded by Gaara's sand, she would have scuttled as far away from him as she could.

"What is it?" Gaara demanded, suddenly alert.

Ino felt her face burn, enough to warm her whole body. "Pardon me for asking, Kazekage-sama. But did you just fondle my ass?"

Gaara let out a strangled noise in the dark, and he could have choked on his own spit. Nevertheless, he replied in a calm voice, "No."

Ino instantly felt ashamed. She had just accused the most powerful man in Suna of sexually harassing her. "I didn't mean to imply that you… I mean… I swear, something just… just… gah!"

"What?" Gaara asked again, this time very wary.

"There it is again!"

Gaara was silent for a while, then said, "Are you implying that I'm a pervert, Yamanaka-san?"

Ino was scandalized. "I wasn't accusing you!" she cried, then followed it with a respectable, "Kazekage-sama." She wasn't accusing him, but she unconsciously brought both her arms around her chest protectively.

"It must be my sand."

Ino stared at the direction from where his voice was coming from, and she was glad that it was so dark, because she did not think she could bear having to look at the man straight in the face with something still groping her bottom. "Your sand, sir? Please tell it to stop."

"Of course," Gaara said, and at that instant, the pressure against her right butt cheek left and she sighed in relief. "My apologies. It moves on its own sometimes."

Ino felt her jaw crack and she suddenly felt very, very unsafe in the toasty confines of the sand barrier, even if it was probably the only thing keeping her from freezing to death at the moment.

She let her face fall on the sand covering knees as she tried to ignore it as it started poking at the sides of her waist. Good thing she wasn't very ticklish, and that was probably the only thing she was grateful for that day.

She tried to ignore Gaara's breath against the side of her face, and pretended this was not happening to her.

* * *

_A/N: Oh, gods… Where will this story lead to, I wonder?_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: All animals used in this chapter do not exist in the Naruto-verse. Probably. XD_

* * *

Yamanaka Ino had heard many great things about the Kage of Suna, and she was not disappointed when she found out that everything they said about him was true. He was the silent, brooding type, and talked only when necessary. Which was a good thing because the last thing Ino wanted was to bother with small talk when she could feel her teeth chattering in the coldness of the cave.

The moment their clothes had finally dried, they had set off to the opposite direction of the snowed-in cave entrance. They were traveling for almost half an hour already, both of them equipped with a flare, when Ino started to feel uneasy. The mountain cave, they found out, was just an opening to a long, uneven tunnel. Sometimes the path would open up into a dome-shaped space, the ceiling several feet over their heads, and then suddenly would drop so low that they had to crouch down on all fours to get through.

It was strangely unnerving to see the Kazekage crawling on the floor like a common ninja with a flare roughly stuck between his teeth, since she had always had the image of him riding on a tuft of sand in all his Kazekage glory, floating from one place to another with his many, many sashes trailing behind him. But now, as she waited for him to wiggle out of the very narrow hole that was barely wide enough for his broad shoulders, bits of limestone and icicles peppering his blood-red hair, she didn't know if she should stare – because a kunoichi seldom got to see a groveling Kazekage – or look away – because she knew even a Kazekage had their pride.

It looked like the man was having a bit of trouble squeezing out of his predicament, and Ino took her time waving the flare around to see the next chamber-like space they had found themselves in. So far, the cave had been linear. Actually, she didn't even know what they would do if the path branched out in different directions. She only had six flares left to their disposal, and at the rate they were going, and the exit not promising to be close, she was starting to really worry.

This small chamber looked different than others they had passed, though. For some weird reason, it was relatively warmer, probably a good three-to-five degrees Celsius. Another conspicuous observation Ino had, was there were very many small, fist-sized holes along the walls, like someone had been training there. She tried to peek into one of said holes but was surprised to find plenty of brown objects that resembled dead grass stuffed inside them. She wondered what they were, but was interrupted when Gaara called out to her.

"Yamanaka-san."

She was surprised when she looked over her shoulder, because Gaara was still on the floor, and it did not look like he had any progress of extracting himself from the hole he was in. She hurried over to him, kneeling down on the ground as she placed down the flare a safe distance away. "Are you all right, sir?"

Gaara's face, which was almost always as blank as a sheet, was… well… still as blank as a sheet. Which was actually kind of humorous, because the only thing visible to Ino was his head, shoulders and arms protruding from the hole, and the rest of his body was nowhere to be seen. He handed her his flare and she carefully placed it beside her.

Ino bit her lip, right now unsure of what to do. He was looking up at her with those glassy eyes of his. "Uhm… Kazekage-sama… you're not by any chance – "

"I'm stuck," Gaara said flatly, and he lowered his gaze onto the floor as he tried one more attempt at freeing himself from probably the single most embarrassing position he's ever been in his lifetime.

Ino blinked, scratched her forehead and decided that this was not a good time to laugh. "Maybe it would be better if you backed out again and we can hack away at the stone over here to widen the hole," she suggested as her fingers traced the part where Gaara's right shoulder was, then her hand flew to her ninjato, sliding it out of its sheath strapped to her back.

Gaara stared up at her, frowned, but did not look like he was moving.

Ino blinked again. "Go on, sir. Try to back out."

"I just did."

Silence.

This was really not her lucky day.

She abandoned her weapon on the floor where it let out a dull _'clang' _against the icy rocks. Gaara did not look like he was kidding. "Oh, dear… Wait, maybe – if I'm really careful – I can hack it away even with you there."

And that was probably the first time that she had gotten a facial reaction from Gaara. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at her, then at her weapon. After a while, he asked, "Are your depth and precision skills… _above average?"_

If it weren't Gaara, Ino might have taken the question as an insult. "I can hit a small moving target two hundred feet away, if that's what you're asking, sir."

"Ah," was the only word that came out of his mouth.

Ino waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she picked up her weapon and raised it over head. With one swift downward jab, she stuck at the rock, a centimeter above Gaara's shoulder.

"Ngh!" Gaara let out a strangled cry, and for a moment Ino thought she had stabbed him. Her hand dropped the weapon carelessly and groped at his shoulder to check for any injury inflicted by her blade.

There was none.

But she gasped when she looked at Gaara's face and found a chunk of rock engraved on his right cheek. It was her turn to stare wide-eyed, and she started to panic. She had just sent a piece of rock flying into the Kazekage's face!

"Oh! Dammit, I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama! Does it hurt? I was careless! I – "

"This is nothing," Gaara injected quietly, and Ino watched in awe as said piece of rock slowly eroded away from his cheek, and a hint of sand swirled around the spot where the offending thing used to be.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Ino sagged against the wall of the cave. "You scared me."

"You underestimate me."

Ino raised her eyebrow at him, not very pleased. Gaara stared back at her, but she stood her ground. "Well, since it's just the two of us, sir, and you _are _the Kazekage, I deem myself responsible of your safety. Don't you agree?"

"I do not need protection," he said.

And that was coming from a man stuck in a hole.

Gaara braced his elbows in an angle to get better leverage, then tried to pull himself free. He budged an inch, but that was about it.

"Can't your sand be helpful at a time like this?" Ino asked, sitting back and resting her chin on a hand, forgetting about helping him any more to avoid wounding his male ego.

_Who ever thought Gaara would have an _ego?

"I have a limited supply at the moment, and I don't want to waste any more than necessary."

"Hm," Ino mused as she watched Gaara change the positioning of his arms and attempted to free himself, to no avail. Whatever sand left with Gaara was now sitting inside his two satchels. They had been forced to abandon his gourd at one of the narrower passages they had passed earlier. "So… shall I give the hole another try? It would probably send more pieces of cave wall into your face, but since it doesn't hurt… "

Gaara looked like he was having an internal struggle. After a while, he nodded.

Ino raised her ninjato over her shoulder again and was about to strike down once more when another strange occurrence happened.

Gaara sneezed.

Ino paused. The floor was not actually warm to begin with. She could feel the cold radiating from beneath her. With Gaara's whole body pressed flat against the ground, she could bet he was not very comfortable. "Are you all right, sir?"

Gaara's face was unreadable as he sniffed several times before nodding. "I am not used to this."

"I doubt anyone is, sir. I'll get you free in a minute." She had to fight the laughter bubbling from her gut as she hacked away, pausing only when Gaara sneezed.

Ten meticulous minutes, plenty of flicked stones on the face and several sneezes later, Gaara was free.

This was probably the silliest thing that has ever happened to Ino in her life. She stood over Gaara and offered her hand. "That should do it, sir. Let me help you up."

By this time, Gaara was looking absolutely miserable. And very cold. Ino didn't blame him; the man did live in a desert. He reached out to take her hand and she pulled him free. He was heavier than she had expected, but managed to tug him out of his little prison. He scrambled to a sitting position and his arms were around his body instantly, desperately rubbing his shoulders for warmth. He sneezed again.

"We should get you warm, sir. Shall I start a fire?" Ino said as she kneeled down beside him worriedly.

"Do you have materials to light one?" Gaara asked, his voice thick and his eyes watering.

Ino nodded. "I'm not really sure why, but there are strange holes in this chamber, and in it are things that I think we can burn. Wait here." She grabbed one of the flares she had left on the floor and hurried over to the far wall. She raised the flare closer to one of the holes. She could see a collection of dead grass, some sort of paper-like objects, and several others that looked useful. It did not take more than a few minutes before she had gathered a hefty amount of burnable things, which she neatly piled a few feet away from Gaara. And with her ninjato, a rock and a flick of a wrist, the chamber burst into a warm, flickering light of a bonfire.

"Warmth," was what Gaara said as he stretched his palms out to warm them on the fire.

Ino slipped back her weapon into its sheath. "It won't last long, since we don't have timber." She huddled over the fire facing the Kazekage. "But it should get your blood circulation going."

The silence that followed was not uncomfortable, interrupted only by Gaara's sniffling. Ino didn't really mind, but she had started to wonder how long the tunnel was, because there were no signs of it ending anytime soon. She hoped Naruto was all right. Chances were she and Gaara were the only ones who got separated from the group.

Gaara, who was wiping his nose with the back of his hand, looked up suddenly. "Did you hear that?"

Ino blinked, also looking up. She didn't hear anything. "What is it?"

Gaara was instantly alert, and he was already on his haunches. "I'm not sure."

Ino mimicked him, unconsciously slipping her weapon out of its sheath again and warily looking over her shoulder.

And that was when she heard it. Well, actually, she _felt_ it before she heard it. The ground was shaking ever so slightly, and then came the rumbling noise.

Gaara moved swiftly, taking his flare from the floor and stomping the fire out. "It's coming from all around us."

"Are there… _things living_ in this cave?" Ino bit her lower lip as she found herself back to back with the Kazekage, anticipating the worst. She could feel them getting closer, whatever they were. She looked around and found the way they have to go through to keep on moving. Unfortunately it was, once again a narrow hole. "Shall we make a run for it, sir?"

Gaara grunted from behind her. "Whatever is coming, is coming fast. Dealing with it head on is wiser than getting caught half-stuck in a hole."

She supposed he was right. Bracing herself for a fight in such an enclosed space, expecting maybe hibernating gigantic bears or tigers, she blanched violently at what came to assault them.

They fell from the fist-sized holes in the walls, one after the other, making squishy sounds as they hit the cave floor. Ino instantly tensed and had to hold down a scream that threatened to escape from her throat.

Slugs as long as her forearm. Dozens after dozens started leaking out of the holes on the walls, dropping over each other and oozing a generous amount of slime as they squirmed. In the green light of their flares, she couldn't tell if they were yellow or white, almost – but not quite – different from Tsunade-sama's summoning familiar, Katsuyu.

"I think we just stumbled in their living habitat," Gaara said calmly as he relaxed his stance, the bit of sand he had hovering over his shoulders once again slipping into one of his satchels. He was now watching interestedly as more slugs poured out of their respective holes.

Ino could hardly move. She had never liked slimy things. There had been many opportunities that she had to work with Katsuyu-sama, and even though the summons was probably one of the most respected familiars of all time, Ino had always had a hard time concealing her surprise and slight disgust when Katsuyu-sama had to perch on her shoulder.

And that was just one slug.

And here…

_And here there were hundreds of them!_

"K-k-k – !" Ino sputtered, as she backed up against Gaara, who was now rubbing his hands together briskly. "Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara looked over his shoulder to her. "Yes?"

No, she shouldn't be exposing her weakness to this man. Her honor – Konoha's honor – was after all, on the line here. "W-we should head out. As in, _now._" Her eyes searched for the hole they had to squeeze through to trudge on, and nearly fainted when she saw a clump of those slugs were blocking her salvation.

She swallowed. "I'm doomed."

Gaara was now standing beside her, studying her face. "You… dislike slugs?"

There was no use lying. She nodded. "I don't really fancy them, sir."

Gaara looked genuinely surprised. "How strange. You kunoichi can stand your ground in war, and win, but you can't stand wriggly things. I heard Naruto say Sakura-san hates cockroaches. And my sister screams when she sees spiders."

Ino was not comforted in the least. "They're gross. We should just eliminate them and get going." She held her ninjato in front of her with her shaking hands.

Gaara stopped her. "I don't think we should be messing with the ecosystem of a foreign land, Yamanaka-san." He eyed one of the slugs that had managed to make its way to them. "They are most likely harmless, anyway." The slug started to crawl up Gaara's leg, leaving a wet trail of slime on his pants. He shook it off gently. It fell with a splattering sound on the ground.

Ino grimaced. Great. Just great.

Something wet and cold slithered up her ankle. She screamed, lunged at a random direction and found herself desperately clambering up Gaara's shoulders.

"It's eating my leg! Get it off! Get it off!" She shamelessly climbed the respectable and honorable Kazekage-sama's frame like a little girl as she shook her leg out where a disgusting slug was now sucking on her flesh.

Gaara was as calm as ever. A bit of sand swirled out of his satchel, flicking at the gastropod off of her ankle. "They're _harmless_. They're slugs."

Ino whimpered as she watched the sand rub up against her leg to wipe off the slime trail on her skin. She took this opportunity to wrap both her legs around Gaara's torso.

Gaara cleared his throat loudly, sounding very much embarrassed. "Yamanaka-san?"

Ino tried to control her breathing. The floor around them was no sooner covered in a carpet of slug, and she fought not to start hyperventilating. "Y-yeah. Just… just give me a second… "

Gaara did not say anything, but instead he forced his flare into one of Ino's fisted hands, reached out behind him to support her legs, hooking the back of her knees with his elbows in a common piggyback. "Take your time. Though I don't think they would be disappearing anytime soon."

She gulped for air as she watched the carpet around them move and squirm and slither, and she instantly felt sick. She buried her face into Gaara's neck. "It'll just be a few seconds. I can just use my jutsu to order them to go back into their nests. I just need to relax. Just a moment… "

"All right," Gaara said, and Ino could feel his voice rumble against his back.

"Just… just keep talking. It relaxes me better when someone talks to me…" she said, then added, "Sir."

Gaara paused a bit, as if he was thinking about what to say to make her relax better, then he started talking, "At least they are just slugs living in this cave. It could be worse. In the desert, we have these spiders that grow as large as a watermelon. They live in rock formations all over the land of Wind. They run as fast as thirty kilometers per hour and are common pests because they can kill a hoard of camels in a matter of minutes. There was news of them ambushing travelers while they sleep, and one time, a traveling merchant was brought into Suna because he was attacked by a spider at night. He had lost a leg – "

"All right!" Ino snapped, wriggling down the Kazekage's back in a hurry, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach. Her foot landed on one of the slugs, squishing it under her weight. She winced. "That got me so very much relaxed, thank you!"

"You're welcome," Gaara said stoically as he collected his flare from her.

Sheesh! No wonder Temari hated spiders.

Ino took a deep breath, fighting the bile that was rising up her throat, and made the stance of her mind-body disturbance jutsu, all the while thinking that this was going to be a very, very long day.

She was just _that _unlucky.

* * *

_A/N: I'm so glad to see those who read my other story are also here reviewing this. It makes me feel so loved. XD_


	3. Chapter 3

Ino had heard from Sakura that if a ninja were to travel from the foot of the Three Wolves to the land of Iron which was among the ranges of its snowy slopes, it would take about a good three hours on foot. This did not include the chances of meeting the local wildlife, short breaks if the traveler was not used to the terrain, and… _avalanches. _

So far, they had been walking long enough for Ino to lose track of time. The only two things they had to be grateful for were the tunnel finally stabilizing, and the temperature relatively warming (still cold but luckily not freezing) as they ventured further into the mountain cave. As they trudged on, they had encountered less and less of those narrow holes they had to crawl into just to get through until there was just one long, dark path wide enough for them to walk side by side. By the time their second hour – or so Ino had estimated – was up, they had spent another two more of their flares, leaving them with four. They had decided to sacrifice their range of vision and reverted to using only one flare at a time, and because of this, they had to move slower than they could with a flare each.

It was because of this slow pace that Ino found herself in a very easy flow of conversation with Gaara.

"… and that was the reason why Kankurou was looking forward to today," Gaara ended as they moved forward through the darkness of the tunnel.

"I never knew that Kankurou was capable of being attracted to… _human females,"_ Ino mused, kicking a loose pebble with her toe. It disappeared into the darkness ahead of them, the _'Clak! Clak!'_ sound of it echoing through the claustrophobic surroundings. She had just listened to the Kazekage as he betrayed his older brother by telling Ino that Kankurou liked Haruno Sakura.

"Were you thinking he was attracted to _human_ _males_ instead?" Gaara asked dryly.

Ino laughed. "No, no. He's always struck me as quite devoted to his puppets. I'd have imagined him just _creating_ a perfect girlfriend and animating her as he would please." She paused at what she just said, then shuddered. That was a very, very disturbing thought.

Gaara, too, shuddered evidently, but the discomfort did not reach his voice. "You have a way with words, Yamanaka-san. For a moment there, you had actually painted an image in my head that would probably give me nightmares. If I ever fall asleep."

Ino looked over to him, watching the light of the flare cast sharp shadows across his face. He was all planes and angles, she realized. A prominent jaw, a sharp nose, and a hard gaze. Those deep set eyes burdened with the signs of insomnia. She peered up at him, not missing a beat as they continued moving forward in the dark. "Are you still having problems sleeping?" She had heard from Naruto that the Kazekage had always been deprived of sleep since he was young, because of the monster that had been forced inside him. She had tucked that small bit of information at the back of her mind without really expecting an occasion where she could use it. Now that she was stuck with the man in a very secluded setting, she did not see anything wrong in asking him straight out.

Gaara shrugged offhandedly, as if it weren't a big deal. "I sleep on occasion. By choice, not by necessity. Nights are usually allotted for my meditation." He looked down at her, and she instantly lowered her gaze, suddenly realizing she was staring at him.

"Ah, well so long as you don't force yourself too much," Ino said, staring straight ahead. She had taken a few steps before realizing that Gaara had stopped walking. She looked over her shoulder questioningly. "Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara was watching her with an unreadable expression just at the edge of the light of the flare, half of his body consumed in the darkness pressing against them. "You are not… _telling me off?"_

Ino's brow furrowed, quite unsure what he meant. "Sir?"

The corners of Gaara's mouth twitched ever so slightly, then said, "I am not… used to this. Whenever I tell someone of my unhealthy sleeping habits, they usually tell me to get eight hours of sleep everyday. You aren't. This is a first for me."

Ino clenched and unclenched her hands around the flare she was carrying. "It's _your_ body. You would know more than anyone else how to take care of it. Why would I tell you otherwise?" Besides, she doubted he would listen if he ever _told _him to sleep.

She did not understand why, but Gaara nodded slowly, a small smile barely visible in the shadows of the fringe of his hair, before the two of them resumed their trek down _– up?_ – the tunnel.

"Basically, it is Temari who gets on my case when I don't sleep," Gaara said as they again turned another curb and the tunnel dipped down to a sharp thirty to forty-five degree angle, surprising both of them.

"Ah, well, what else can you expect from an older sister?" Ino said.

"She tries too hard. She should think of herself more. Watch your step," Gaara warned when Ino stepped on a loose pebble and nearly slipped. Gaara's hand was instantly supporting her elbow. His grip was firm, but gentle, and he waited until Ino finally got her footing before he let her go.

"Wow," Ino breathed, looking down at the ground by her feet. "So it's suddenly down hill from here…" She was not feeling confident with this. What with this drastic change of footing, the last thing they needed was the path ending in a who-knows-how-deep drop into nothingness.

Gaara held out his hand to her. "Maybe I should take the lead from here on."

Ino stared at the hand he had offered, then shook her head. "No, Kazekage-sama. I think in this setting, it's better that I go first."

"And why is that?"

Ino frowned, giving him a disapproving look. Did she really need to explain to him that it was only ninja protocol to offer her life before he offered his? "Because your life, sir, is a hundred times more valuable than mine." She made to move forward, expecting that the conversation was over with that. That was why she was surprised when he growled at her, and she gasped when he forcefully snatched the flare from her and pinned her that glassy gaze that looked ready enough to kill.

"Kazeka – "

"What did you just say?" Gaara hissed under his breath. The shadows that started playing over his face made him look even more menacing than Ino would have liked.

She didn't know what made her shrink against the wall of the tunnel. What was he suddenly mad about? "Your life is worth more than mine, sir. I am a jounin. You are the Kazekage. It's logical that the indispensable one is – "

"I wasn't expecting you valuing your life so less." His voice had softened, as if the out-of-the-blue flash of anger never even happened. "We are in a cave in an ice mountain with no food or water and a number of flares left, and all you've ever thought about is my position and yours." His eyes narrowed. "The Kazekage is as helpless as the jounin he is with, stuck in an environment very foreign to his own. We are but two people who wish to survive, and here you are, telling me that you see me as a kind of man who would let a woman offer her life for me while I stand back and watch?"

Ino ducked her head. "I didn't mean it as an insult, sir," Ino said, suddenly remembering that, yeah, Gaara had an ego.

"Well, I will not have it so. From here on, you shall call me Gaara and I shall call you Ino, and you and I shall be nothing more than _Gaara_ and _Ino_ until we get out of this place. Are we clear?"

"But – "

"Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Gaara's cheek twitched.

"Yes, Ga-Gaara…"

That seemed to have satisfied him, and his tense face finally reverted to its usual stoic, unemotional mask. Ino did not know how to take this. She had just called Gaara by his first name. It left a bad taste in her mouth. This was not how she was trained, disrespecting shinobi who stood on top of the pyramid. But _displeasing_ them was something she did not want to do, either.

Gaara held the flare high above his head, and for some strange reason reached his free hand to Ino. "Then we move."

Ino blinked at the hand, then at Gaara's face. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

Gaara's face did not even change expression. He didn't even blink. "It's a steep path. We don't want you slipping on another pebble and go rolling down into the unknown."

Now that was taking it a bit too far, right? Surely, he must be kidding. At first he had asked, no, _demanded_ even, that she treat him as an equal while here he pulls a stunt, treating her as… as a _woman_. Well, given that she _was _a woman…But she wasn't weak!

Ino turned her nose away from his hand, honestly insulted. "If you are going to ask me to treat you no differently than how I usually treat people, then I'm telling you right now that I don't just let _anyone _hold my hand when they ask me to."

Gaara looked instantly amused. "And yet you mount them freely on the shoulders when slugs are crawling about?" he asked, lowering his hand to the side.

Ino felt her face burn. Curse him for even bringing up that embarrassing situation she had been in. "That was different. Slugs present in the situation are a _different_ story."

"Indeed," was the only thing Gaara said after a long pause, but he gestured for them to get moving. But before anything else, he did something that made Ino's brow furrow even further – again. He handed her one of the satchels containing his sand. "Can you hold this for me?"

Ino gingerly –hesitatingly – took the object from him. She could feel the sand stir inside the container as if alive. She tested the weight, honestly a bit bothered by how light it felt in her hand. Gaara did not have much of his sand left. She looked up at him. "But Gaara… this is yours."

"It's just insurance. In case anything happened to me."

Ino snorted. "Yeah, right. Like anything would happen to you." She slipped the satchel over one shoulder anyway, letting the strap cross her chest and comfortably pushed it behind her hip. "But we should follow the Kazekage-sama's orders."

Gaara was smart enough to know that she was just trying to annoy him, and he didn't even bother to correct her. He set off, slowly down the steep path, his legs bent at the knees for better balance. Ino followed carefully close behind, not wanting to walk too far away from the light Gaara was holding over his head. She had one hand braced against the wall, inching after her, careful not to lose her balance. If she slipped, there was no mistaking it that she would be rolling down the path like a boulder.

"Don't walk too fast," Ino said after a while, and instinctively her free hand darted to grab at the back of Gaara's shirt. Gaara looked over his shoulder at her in genuine surprise.

"I'm sorry. I'll walk slower."

Ino winced. "I wasn't telling you to slow down because I can't keep up. Because I _can_ keep up! I'm just telling you to slow down because we can't see too far ahead and it's dangerous. For you, I mean."

Those eyes of his that right now looked hardly visible in the shadows, seemed to widen, and she could feel Gaara breathe through his shirt. "I'll try to look at this through a different angle. You really are worried about me, not because I am Kage. Should that mean that you might actually care?"

Ino cocked her left eyebrow. "We love ourselves, don't we, sir?"

Gaara didn't say anything.

Ino blushed. "Gaara."

He nodded.

She looked away. "Of course I would care. It's not like you're a complete stranger."

Gaara started walking again, wisely not saying anything, and Ino did not realize she still hadn't let go of his shirt. He cleared his throat and said, "Haruno Sakura talks very fondly of you. She said that you were one of the reasons she is who she is right now."

Ino felt her eye twitch in irritation. So _Haruno Sakura _talked about her. She could not put the reasons together in her head why it was _Haruno Sakura's _businessto talk about _Yamanaka Ino_ to very important political figures of a different Hidden Village. Most probably, the forehead girl was telling embarrassing stories about their childhood. "Why would she talk to you about that?" she asked.

And Gaara said something that nearly had her skipping a step. "Because I asked her."

Nearly slipping on the uneven footing, Ino quickly righted herself against the wall. _"Excuse me?"_

Gaara once again stopped and turned to her. "I asked her."

"When?"

Gaara paused to think about it, then said, "Maybe a year ago. Right after you came to Suna for a research concerning desert flora. Do you remember that? You were in the Sand for a week."

This was getting weirder and weirder. She nodded slowly. "I remember. But… why were you asking about me?"

He turned to face forward again, and he resumed their slow and painful pace down the path. "Because I thought you looked… how do you say it?" He glanced back at her. "Pretty?"

And that was probably the last straw. And Ino's luck just got even worse.

The footing she swore was there a second ago had disappeared, and she felt her left leg give way. She tripped over her other foot, and one second she was flailing her arms to desperately regain her balance, and the next second she was in mid-air, falling into the darkness. She tried to scream, but her face was suddenly crushed against something warm, and her nostrils were filled with the smell of sage and sand. It was Gaara. He must have dropped the flare back up there – she couldn't see anything! – right before her worst premonition came true in the form of what could have been a hole on the ground. And they had just fallen right into it.

She was going to die. She knew it. They were going to die together!

It was just too embarrassing to think about!

"Hold on tight!" she heard Gaara hiss to her ear. She did not even know what he meant by that, because if she had _something_ to hold on to, then they would not be falling in the first place. In the feel of nothing but darkness flying past them as they started to gain momentum in their fall, she had no other option but to cling onto Gaara's neck desperately.

Of course, she shouldn't have doubted him. It might have taken a few eternities before she realized that they were no longer falling like deadweight. She could feel her heartbeat thundering against her eardrums, and she had started breathing again. She opened her eyes but didn't see anything in that thick darkness of heck-knows-where they were. She blinked. What was happening?

And that was when she realized it. Gaara had saved them with whatever remaining sand he had. She couldn't even avoid the fact that it was now cupping her bottom comfortably for some unexplainable reason. The panic from having almost died was the only thing that was keeping her mind off of Gaara's perverted sand.

"Are you all right?" came Gaara's disembodied voice from directly in front of her, and she could feel his breath against her face. He was also breathing hard.

Ino nodded, then realized that he could not see her. "I'm all right," she whispered, her arms around his neck petrified in their place.

"We should light a flare," Gaara suggested.

Ino nodded again. "You're right. If I let go of you, I won't fall off your sand, would I?"

"I have you. I won't let you fall."

She believed him. Her arms felt like jelly when she peeled them off Gaara and fumbled for a flare from her pack. It took a while before she finally got one out. Pulling the tab off to light it took even longer.

After several attempts, she finally did the job, and they were bathed in a warm glow of the green light of the flare. Ino squinted, blinking to let her eyes adjust to her surroundings. The first thing she focused her eyes on were the very close walls surrounding them. She looked up to see where they had come from, but was disappointed to find out that it was too dark to even make out anything.

Then her eyes were on Gaara, whose face, much to her surprise was so close to hers that she had to back away a few inches to keep her nose from bumping his. He was watching her intently, and aside from the hard breathing and the slight quirk on his lips, he looked unhurt.

Yet.

Because the next thing that was revealed to her by the light of the flare was something that gave her the urges to hurt him.

The thing cupping her bottom was not Gaara's perverted sand.

_It was Gaara's hand. _

She felt her jaw crack as she tried to smile at him after giving their situation a good much needed going-through. "Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you grabbing my ass?"

"We were falling. The last thing I wanted was to get separated. Since you have all the flares."

"There are other parts of my body you can grab."

As if to test the waters, she felt Gaara give her bottom a good squeeze.

She slapped his chest hard.

He paused a bit, then as if an afterthought, said, "Ow."

"Stop sexually harassing my bottom!"

"Are you sure?"

What kind of question was that? "Do I look like I _enjoy_ getting fondled? No!"

"Even if it's the only thing keeping you from falling into a dark abyss?"

What? What the heck was – oh…

Now that she had finally started thinking clearly, she had just realized that her legs were firmly wrapped around Gaara's hips, and the only thing that was keeping them afloat was just enough sand for Gaara to stand on with both his feet. One of his arms was around her waist. And the other was… well… it was…

"Ino?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"What, Gaara?" she asked weakly as she dropped her head on his shoulders.

"Do we go up, or do we go down? You choose."

Oh, and wasn't the answer to that easy?

"Down."

_Just like my luck and everything else with it. Down. Down. Down. _

"Understood." And she had to bear his invading hand all the way down. Which lasted for a good hour or so.

* * *

_A/N: I'm starting to feel sorry for Ino. I should really end her misery soon._


	4. Chapter 4

Back in Ino's academy days, she could remember that she had been a stuck up bitch, and thought that being good in class was a good enough excuse to be one. Actually, now that she looked back at it, she had been second only to Uchiha Sasuke.

Oh, Uchiha Sasuke. Given, her infatuation had died many years ago. But every time she would allow herself to remember the time when she had sacrificed her skills for femininity, she would have that strong, _strong_ urge to club herself over the head.

While she had been an outstanding student in the academy, when she graduated she became a below-average genin. She tried to blame it on puberty. Because now that her twenty-five year old wiser self analyzed it, it had been because of Uchiha Sasuke that she had dropped from her pedestal and into the obscurity of nobodyville.

When rumor spread through the female population of the academy that Uchiha Sasuke liked long haired women, Ino (and maybe almost every other girl in her class) had been obsessed for months, growing their bobs and pixie cuts into manes. Now that Ino looked back at it, she had been one of the extreme ones. She had started spending more time on her hair, making sure to win the undeclared competition between the females of her class. It was that time in a typical girl's life when she would start searching for the path she would take from being a girl to being a woman, and the only bible she had then were fashion magazines that told her that pretty women need to be like this or like that to be appreciated by the opposite sex.

Now that she thought about it, why did girls want to be appreciated by the opposite sex? Her progress at striving to be a great kunoichi suffered because of it.

In her struggles back in her genin days, there had been several experiences for her, and little by little she had learned to shed her vanity when her desire to be better at her craft intensified. It had been a humbling process, but she had succeeded.

Right now, Ino hadn't completely abolished her love for feminine things, like shopping, or clothes and the like. But what she had developed as she grew up was the professionalism to separate those desires with her work.

That's why she knew that she should not be gawking like an awestruck girl who just saw her first doll, with her jaw slack and her eyes twinkling at the sight that beheld them the moment Gaara's sand drifted them lower and lower into the hole they had fallen into. She hadn't expected it to be this deep, and while she had completely lost feeling on her legs that were wrapped around Gaara's hips for the past hour now, not to mention with his hand still lovingly supporting her ass, she had at least stopped grumbling about it.

All thought had left her mind when the strange vertical tunnel gave way into a totally different place that Ino thought only existed in fairytales. They had floated down a narrow chasm into another wide space that, strangely, had _light _in it. It was as if an eerie, green light was coming from everywhere and nowhere. And the moment Gaara's sand floated them down low enough for Ino to jump down onto the floor, losing her balance a bit on wobbly legs, she saw what it was that was making this room different than the rest of the dark tunnel they had just been from.

The walls of the chasm were dotted with millions and millions of tiny green glowing objects that Ino could not make out from this distance. From afar, she could hear the faint sound of trickling water. Could it be they would be able to get their first drink in the past hours of stumbling in the dark?

Ino gazed up at Gaara, who looked equally as surprised as she was. He landed beside her and waited as his sand swirled a few times around their ankles before slipping into the safety of Gaara's satchel.

It was a bit chilly in the room, but relatively warmer than the dark tunnel they had been trekking earlier. That, and it was undeniably breathtaking in there.

"What are they?" Gaara asked in whispered awe as he took a few tentative steps across the ground, the echoes of his footsteps cushioned by those mysterious glowing things in the cave.

"They look like… are these… mushrooms?" Ino hurried over to the far wall and brought her face down close enough to make out the glowing things covering the walls. She was right. "They _are _mushrooms." She used two fingers to scrape a part of the wall of green-glowing fungi and was not surprised when she found that the wall was not merely rock, but wood with white rot. They looked like some of the Mycenae found in the Fire country, but still the structure was a bit off.

Unable to believe that her luck was finally looking up, she raised her face towards the ceiling, to the hole they had come from and frowned. That couldn't be right. She knew her knowledge on plant life was fairly broad, and if her memory served her right, these things wouldn't be glowing unless they had absorbed enough light from the outside. She stalked around the enclosed space, her eyes never leaving the never-ending dark ceiling above them.

Gaara was watching her from across the room, one of his fingers poking at the wall of green. "What is it?" he asked her, suddenly aware of her behavior.

She turned to him with a toothy grin. "We might be able to get out of here. These mushrooms wouldn't be here unless they receive even the smallest amount of light. And they're growing on roots of trees! These must be from some enormous trees indigenous to the Land of Iron that branch out down through the caves under the Three Wolves. This means there has to be some way sunlight enters this area of the cave."

Gaara's eyes widened at the information, and he joined her in staring up over their heads. After a moment of searching for even a pinprick of light to show through the high ceiling, Ino scratched her neck in confusion.

"It doesn't seem like there's an opening to the outside… " Ino said, disappointed. "Could these mushrooms be a different species than those I know of? "

Gaara looked as stoic as ever as he merely looked over his shoulder at something that Ino hadn't noticed earlier. "No, I don't think you're mistaken, Ino. Look." He pointed over to a spot on the floor.

Ino looked over to where he was pointing and noticed the small puddle of water in the middle of an otherwise dry cave. She could see ripples forming on the surface of that puddle as water slowly but surely trickled from somewhere from above.

"I could only guess that the hole that had let in whatever light from the outside must have been blocked by that avalanche," Gaara said, turning to her. "Since there is water here, would you like to take this opportunity to rest? You must be tired."

Ino nodded vaguely, still eyeing the unseen ceiling. "That would be the wisest thing to do, I guess." She finally tore her eyes away from the darkness and gestured at the walls. "At least we have a natural light source so we wouldn't need to waste the remaining flares."

"There are three left?"

"Yes."

"That does not sound too promising," Gaara commented as he looked around, as if searching for a good enough place to set camp for a few hours. "Let's use whatever wood these roots are willing to provide and make a fire." He was already doing it while saying it, and he was already using whatever bit of sand he had in his disposal to gouge out a few of the glowing fungi to reveal the rotting roots of the trees whose name Ino did not know.

"Let me do that," Ino said, the subordinate in her suddenly kicking in, not the least bit comfortable of the sight of Gaara doing something a Kazekage shouldn't even be bothering about.

Gaara shooed her away wordlessly and continued with his task. Unsure of what to do, Ino decided to step back and let him work in peace.

Ino unconsciously rubbed her hands together before swinging the satchel of sand off of her shoulders and deposited it against the protruding roots of the tree Gaara was attacking. The relief probably came from fact that they had finally found a place to take a breather after those many hours of being in the dark. The dark had never really bothered her much before, but it was the first time she had to spend it with someone who was neither a friend of a teammate, and the communication between them had had its highs and lows. And although she had already told herself many years ago that she would avoid all capriciousness since she had sworn off her bad habit of being… well… a difficult female, Gaara had been testing her self-control.

She was actually starting to think it overwhelming. Was Gaara always like this? After he had become friends with Naruto, it had been uphill from there.

She paused. Then frowned.

Could it be _because _of Naruto that Gaara had sort of developed a… _sly _side? Because however she tried to put it, she could not picture Gaara complimenting her looks and pinching her ass because he thought it amusing. There had to be a catalyst to his behavior.

She blushed at the memory of that split second before they ended up falling into that hole earlier, that part when Gaara had revealed to her that he had asked about her and in fact thought she looked 'pretty'. Of course, he never brought it up on the hour they had to slowly float down on his sand cloud, with her straddling him the whole time and his hand in places it shouldn't even be on. Shaking the memory out of her head, she shrugged out of her flak jacket and tried to get as comfortable as she could get on the floor. After that, she dug into her pouch for some of those crackers she knew she had tucked in there before they left Konoha. She was pleasantly surprised to have it still intact in its plastic wrapper.

Gaara had gathered a handful of roots and had deposited it in front of her gently before lowering himself on the ground across her. "There's still a bit of moisture in them," he noted and without another word, used a finger to command his sand to swirl around the pile of roots.

"You're drying them up," Ino mused as she watched the grains of sand dance around the roots like little fireflies, reflecting the green hue of their surroundings. "You're running out of sand, Gaara. And it's even more humid here to create any more."

"It doesn't matter," Gaara said as he watched his sand's movement grow sluggish until it dully dropped onto the ground, heavy with the moisture of the roots. "You still have a satchel full, am I right?"

Ino patted said satchel with a hand. "Right here. Do you want it back?"

He shook his head slightly. "Keep it for me."

"Uh… sure." Ino looked down at the satchel before taking out her ninjato, then picking up a random rock. She got the fire started after a few strikes, and after making sure their fire was going to hold, they filled themselves up with the only available water they've stumbled upon to in hours. It was easy for Ino to sterilize the water with a handy little trick Sakura taught her with her chakra. It had always come in handy for medics to make use of whatever water they could find in the field. After they were watered, they wandered back towards the fire to rest.

After a long moment of comfortable and very much needed silence, Ino found herself leaning back on the roots of the trees with her knees hugged to her chest, and Gaara sitting in a half lotus position with his eyes closed right across her.

It did not need much to get Ino to start watching him. He was meditating. There was nothing interesting to watch in an unmoving man, but she guessed that was what made her look in the first place. She had been convinced he was a busybody, someone who sacrificed sleep because he had many things to do in the life of a Kage. And perhaps this motionless state he was in right now was what made him interesting.

She looked down at the pack of crackers she had in her hand, thinking if she should ask him if he wanted any. She did not want to bother him. But then eating without asking him would be rude, right? She licked her lips before deciding that she should just wait for him to finish, and that eating together would be the best choice to take to avoid any more… _discomfort_. Today was not turning out to be a good day, and the last thing she wanted was a misunderstanding. She set the crackers aside and sank lower down the roots of the trees, stretching her legs in front of her and picking at the ends of her hair.

"What are you thinking?" Gaara suddenly asked.

Ino looked up to see Gaara, whose now open eyes were trained on her hand that was playing with her hair. She shrugged. "I just thought that when we get out of here, maybe it's time to get a haircut." She told him the truth. Perhaps it was a sort of metaphor in her life, her hair length.

_It was starting to grow too long. She was starting to get soft. _

She threw her pony tail over her shoulder and picked up the pack of crackers. "Would you like to eat?"

Gaara blinked and watched as Ino ripped the pack open and held it out to him. "They're chocolate flavored, though. If you don't mind that, then here."

Gaara looked like he was thinking about it, but after a while reached out and plucked one, popped it in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "They taste all right."

Ino couldn't help but smile. He didn't look like he was lying, but he did not look too happy about it either. She took a piece for herself and nibbled on it thoughtfully. She noticed he was still watching her. She met his gaze head on. "Say, do you think we're going to get out of here?"

Gaara did not even hesitate. "Of course. Naruto and the others are still out there. The samurai and the other Kage would surely wonder that we are missing. They might have already sent a search party as we speak."

Ino knew what he was saying was probably true. The Kazekage missing was most definitely a big deal. His confidence was doing wonders to her nerves. Perhaps it was a good thing that she was trapped together with a reliable man.

_What if it were Naruto?_

She shuddered at the thought. If it were Naruto, she would probably be wrestling him from eating the glowing mushrooms growing all around them.

"What do you think?" Gaara suddenly asked. "Do you think these mushrooms are edible?" He was now looking over to his side, where a patch of said mushrooms was clustered just at arms' reach.

Ino was suddenly horror-struck and she stared at him from across the fire. "Excuse me?"

"These mushrooms. Could they be edible?"

It was a serious question that she thought deserved a serious answer. "Uhm, well there are these mushrooms that grow in the Fire Country that look like the ones we have here, though these are obviously smaller than the ones we have back home. We call them Mycenae. But you see, Mycenae species that create foxfire are hard to identify from each other. There are species that are actually used for healing, but some could be poisonous."

"Can they kill you?"

"Oh, no, no. Just the common vomiting. Nausea. Diarrhea. If ever you ingest one, it would be a day of hospital with an IV down your vein for hydration, but that's pretty much it." Ino gestured at the patch of mushrooms Gaara was dangerously eyeing. "I'm not familiar with this family of Mycenae. So I don't think you should even attempt – _What are you doing?"_

Gaara had plucked about two or three pieces of the glowing mushrooms and popped it in his mouth uncaringly. Ino was immediately on her feet and had practically flown towards him, tackling him to the ground with her hands grabbing both sides of his head. They rolled around on the ground away from the fire a few times before they finally stopped, Ino straddling the idiot man and squeezing his cheeks hard with her fingers.

"Spit it out! Don't you dare swallow it!" She snarled as she tried to claw at his mouth with her two forefingers. The softness of his lips surprised her that she involuntarily withdrew her hand as if burned.

Gaara was lying there on his back, spread-eagled, his face still as serious as ever. He was watching her, and there was an evident twitch of his lips. Ino swallowed hard. Had he eaten it? She didn't even realize the spark of the usual warmth of flowing chakra directed to the tips of her fingers. She was about to probe his body without consent when Gaara opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue where three little glowing mushrooms were sitting innocently. Ino practically felt the energy drain from her entire body. Extinguishing the chakra from her hands, she swatted the offending things from his tongue, her palm accidentally grazing his bottom lip.

"Don't," Ino started weakly. "Don't do that. I told you I don't know if these are poisonous or not." She used her hands to balance herself on his chest.

Gaara was still watching her. "I just thought it was something Naruto would do if he were here," he said.

_Don't I know it?_

"Yeah, well that man is different. He has… he has four stomachs," she huffed, feeling tired.

Gaara sat up suddenly, and she was made aware that she was straddling him again. "We always end up with your legs around me, _Yamanaka-san_," he said, as if he had just announced that the weather was nice.

Ino pushed him on his chest. He fell flat on his back again. She crawled off him. "My apologies, _Kazekage-sama,_" she shot out to him as she stalked back towards the fire, making sure to crush with her foot the three mushrooms Gaara had actually attempted to eat.

"Are you mad at me?" he called to her.

"Mad at you? No, sir. Rest assured that the horror of reporting back to the others that the Kazekage had died because of a mushroom merely flashed through my mind's eye but a second. And it thrilled me to pieces."

"So long as you aren't mad…"

Ino felt her knuckles crack violently.

There was no mistaking it. Naruto was a bad influence on Gaara.

* * *

_A/N: Shout outs to the following reviewers who sparked the inspiration for this chappie:_

_To **Renaerys**, for mentioning something about Gaara being a closet perv. That comment gave me a lightbulb moment which I am going to use on my next chapter._

_To **darkmagic-luvr**, who pointed out about Ino's legs wrapped around Gaara for the second time. That inspired in me a running gag for the story. LOL!_

_And to **liltle**, who gave the concept of "survival quest". That had me going. _

_So thanks!  
_

_I have a few things I have to do this weekend, and as much as I want to update this since the ideas are already stuck in my head, I'm afraid there will be no quick update within the next 2 to 3 days at least. I will be a bit busy since I have a lot of catching up to do with real life, but once I get everything fixed, I'll be back to writing. _

_Again, thank you for the very useful ideas. I know you may have reviewed and said them unconsciously, but they made me go, "Imma use this!" So if you have any more suggestions/requests/plot bunnies running around your head, I'm open for many more misfortunes for Ino and Gaara. Because, you know, we're like, evil that way. XD_

_Soooo, I'll see you then!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: This chapter is confusing. XD_

* * *

Two of the very few luxuries Yamanaka Ino enjoyed after missions were bubble baths and beauty sleeps. She seldom got any of both, really, because lately the village lacked the manpower and she had been volunteering for missions that required her to leave the Leaf for long periods of time that at least lasted a week, and at the most lasted a month.

That was why today, when she woke up feeling comfortably toasty with her arms around something that was projecting enough warmth for her to snuggle against, she was happy. Sure, the bed beneath her was a bit hard, but nothing a veteran ninja couldn't endure. The comfortable smell of sage enveloping her was enough to make up for it.

Sage…?

Oh, she knew where this was leading to. Her eyes popped wide open, expecting to see the Kazekage clinging to her (because that was what was likely happening here, given her luck – or the lack of it – with the man probably feeling her up while she was asleep.)

That was why Yamanaka Ino nearly screamed when she opened her eyes slowly, ready to push away the man away from her, but instead saw not the Kazekage, but _Yamanaka Ino_.

_What…?_

The first thing that came into her mind was that someone was casting some sort of genjutsu on her.

And someone casting a genjutsu on her meant that there was someone who was _not _a friend.

Her instinct was to search for Gaara in that green-tinted hollow of the cavern and make sure he was all right and unharmed. It seemed like her movement had caused the other Yamanaka Ino to stir.

Ino was instantly on her toes, crouching into a position that would be easy to either attack or retreat if needed. She watched as her counterpart slowly pushed herself up into a stiff sitting position, and those big blue eyes of hers were staring back at her in shock that for a moment Ino thought she was looking at a mirror.

And the other Yamanaka Ino blinked at her, looked down at her own hands in disbelief, then said slowly, "I'm… in your body…?"

This comment sent Ino reeling and in a split second she had her arms around herself and realized that she had… _very broad shoulders._ She looked down at her body and nearly fainted when she ended up staring at a maroon tunic that did not even have the telltale mounds of her breasts. She raised her hands in front of her face in horror. She had… _big hands_. Big, calloused hands that had several paper cuts, and ink under her nails.

_These are not my freaking hands!_

She raised her hands – not her hands! – to her face. She felt prominent, chiseled cheeks, a tall nose, eyes deep set in their sockets, and… several conspicuous faults on the left side of her forehead that _were not there before she had fallen asleep!_

She was starting to hyperventilate. Because right now, the fact dawned in on her.

She was, for some reason, in Sabaku no Gaara's body.

And that meant…

The Yamanaka Ino in front of her cupped her hands on her breasts and squeezed, a light coming into those blue eyes set on the face she had been so used to seeing every morning in the mirror when she brushed her teeth.

"Don't fondle my breasts!" Ino screamed, and the sound of her voice was so foreign in her own ears. Deep. Manly. _Gaara's. _

Gaara obediently let go of her body's breasts, but he kept tracing a finger down her arm, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. He looked up to Ino with those blue eyes, then said, "What happened?"

That was the eternal question. What was the freaking eternal answer?

Ino ran a big hand through coarse, unfamiliar – and very short – hair and sighed in frustration as she tried to remember what had happened to them that resulted to them waking up in each other's bodies. She couldn't keep a rational thought in her head – or Gaara's head – because she discovered she was starting to panic. She looked down at Gaara's body and swallowed. He was all lean muscle, and that mere fact made her uncomfortable.

Gaara did not look to be as shaken as she. He appeared to be more curious than anything else. He was now pulling at the mane of long, blond hair over one shoulder, and then again started tracing a finger over an arm with child-like wonder.

Just the mere fact of Gaara being inside her body and acting as if it were one of the greatest wonders of the ninja world did not sit well with her.

_Think, Ino. Think! What happened?_

It did not take long for the realization to hit her like a ton of bricks. And as if realizing it at the same time, Gaara raised his head in horror, the blond pony tail flipping over one shoulder and trailing down behind him.

She remembered having stopped Gaara from eating those horrid glowing mushrooms sticking out of the walls of the chasm they were in. She remembered the Kazegake apologizing to her for pulling such a prank on her, followed by a silence that was interrupted only by Gaara's constant inquiries if she was still mad at him.

Being the adult that she was, Ino did not think holding a grudge against him for showing her his playful side fair. And so they had settled once again around the fire and…

And then…

And then…?

_And then what happened?_

"We were talking."

Ino looked up as the voice that belonged to her not a few hours ago, spoke. Gaara had his arms – _her _arms – crossed over his chest – _her _chest! – and had a thoughtful expression on his face – damn, _her_ face – as if trying to remember what had happened. "We were talking… and then…" His face – that was _hers _– fell as he realized that he, too, did not look like he remembered anything.

But he was right. They had been talking in front of the fire. She looked down at the big hands she had placed on knees that weren't hers. She could feel the unfamiliar muscles rippling under her palms when she shifted in her place, then it suddenly hit her.

"We were talking about me," she said in Gaara's voice. She felt her jugular move as she swallowed hard at the memory that made her break into a cold sweat.

"I was asking you about your clan's _kekkei genkai_…" Gaara continued, and the realization marred on his face that belonged to Ino was evident. "And you – "

"I told you about the mind-transfer jutsu of the Yamanaka clan," she finished.

Gaara nodded slowly, his arms tightening under his chest – her breasts… _damn it_ – as he furrowed his brow. "And I asked you of the range of the _Shintenshin_. And you explained to me briefly about telepathy, mind-control, and mind-transfer…"

Ino nodded her head excitedly as everything started to come back to her. She edged closer to Gaara, somehow feeling really weird having to sit down with her legs together when what she had were Gaara's legs. "And you asked me if I was capable of… oh, crap…"

Gaara's now blue eyes widened as the facts finally fell into place. "I asked you if you were capable of interchanging minds with both parties' consciousness retained. And you… "

And she gave it an experimental shot.

And that was that.

_Crap, crap, crap!_

Now the second question.

"Can you change us back?" Gaara asked.

Ino dropped her very male head on a very male hand and groaned in her very male voice. In theory, the suggestion was not improbable. Interchanging conscious thought from one person to another was something she had never tried – or even thought of doing – before because she did not see any benefit in it in a battle, and her father and all of the people in her clan had never even tried to develop such a branch of the jutsu for combat.

And now, as she sat there, looking at a very curious Gaara in her body, she knew exactly why her family never developed the _Shintenshin _to be used like this.

To confirm her fears, she grabbed the satchel full of sand a couple of feet away and held it out to Gaara. "Make your sand move."

Gaara was immediately cooperative. He held out his delicate-looking hand out and waved his fingers in the familiar way he always did when commanding his sand. It once again made Ino's stomach do flip-flops at seeing her body move like the Kazekage. But what made her stomach do more than flip-flops was the fact that the sand in the satchel didn't even so much as twitch.

Ino's fears were confirmed then and there; they could not use their own jutsu if they were in each others' bodies.

Gaara looked up at her. "Try making the sand move. Maybe it will follow your command since you're in my body."

Ino looked down at the sand nervously. What Gaara suggested may work. But there was one big problem. "I have no idea how to do it… What do I have to do?"

Gaara stared at her slack-jawed, as if he too realized what the problem was with their setting: Even if they were capable of using each others' jutsu, without knowing the theory behind it, it was hopeless.

"Crap…" Ino said, the deep sound of the Kazekage's voice cursing making her very much disquieted.

They were stuck like this until…

Until when?

It looked like Gaara was thinking the same thing. "How do we fix this... _predicament?"_

Ino shook her head, then hung it on her manly chest. "Only a Yamanaka would know what to do with this. We'll have to see my father after we get out of here."

She could already see it now. _The embarrassment. _Her father was going to either be really disappointed in her for getting Suna's Kazekage of all people into a predicament that was too stupid to fathom, or make fun of her for the rest of her ninja days until she retired. She did not know what could be worse of the two. She didn't care. She should have known better than experiment on jutsu given their situation. It was her irresponsibility that got her into yet even deeper trouble.

She couldn't even call this the lack of luck. This was just pure stupidity.

"Gaara… Kazekage-sama… I'm so sorry. I was careless. I was irresponsible… I was – "

"_I egged you on,"_ Gaara interrupted, finally uncrossing his slender arms and gesturing at her with such Gaara-like stiffness in Ino's body that she could not help but feel awkward watching.

Now getting out of this cave wasn't the only thing she had to worry about, but she had just used an undeveloped jutsu – if by accident – on one of the most important people in the Ninja world. And to think they were now helpless with whatever little sand they couldn't even use, and the only light source they had with them came in the form of flares that they would be forced to use if they ever decide to leave the sanctuary they had found within the glowing mushrooms in the chasm they were in right now.

"After everything that's happened, I'm wondering why you're still surprised it ended like this," Gaara said indifferently, as if getting bodies interchanged happened on a daily basis for him, and it was strange because having Ino look at her own face so placid like that at a time like this was unbelievably calming. "We were nearly crushed in an avalanche, but managed to survive, if barely. We lost communication with our separate parties, but we've made it this far. We've swapped bodies, but it could have been worse." He gave her that wide-eyed Ino stare that could have been comical if not for the given situation. "I would say we're pretty lucky."

Ino nearly scoffed. Not really sure how the Kazekage had deducted that they were lucky when all the while she had been wallowing in misfortune. She started to pinch the nose bridge of that unfamiliar face she had to endure until they seek her father's help, and sighed. "I beg to differ, sir. If anything, I'd say we were pretty unlucky."

He smirked. It looked so strange having to see her face smirking that way. It did not suit the Yamanaka Ino mouth to smirk. "Luck, Yamanaka-san, has a peculiar habit of favoring those who don't depend on it. And usually those who depend on it are those that had given their one-hundred percent and have nothing else left. We, on the other hand, still have three flares, a satchel of sand and – " he tilted his head to the side the way he always did, but somehow looking very unconvincing when he was using Ino's head instead. " – We still have each other."

Ino felt her face feel warm at the realization that Gaara had just said something very, very cool, for such a stiff person such as him.

Gaara scowled. "Please don't blush like that when inside my body. It… bothers me."

Ino felt her left cheek twitch. The image of Cool Gaara vanished in a second. "Well, excuse me. It's not like I can control what happens inside your body."

Gaara did not look too happy. He grabbed his right breast with his left hand.

"You pervert!" Ino shrieked, and with Gaara's voice, it did not sound too threatening. Guys, Ino thought at that very moment, should never _ever _shriek. "Don't _touch_ me!"

Gaara lowered his hand to his side, looking awfully thoughtful as he stared at Ino with child-like curiosity. "You're right. Your face – or _my_ face, rather – is very red right now." He made to touch her chest again.

Ino lunged at him and grabbed his wrist to stop him. She blinked at how thin those wrists were in her hands. Was she really this tiny compared to Gaara? She looked down at him, and swallowed hard when she found him looking up at her, too. He looked surprised at her strength. It was obvious he was not used to being manhandled like a… well… like a girl. Ino thought that had been a very stupid hypothesis; Gaara had never been in a girl's body before. She wondered if this was how Gaara saw her, always having to peer down to see her face.

He tried to pull away from her grasp. He blinked in wonder when he was not able to dislodge his wrist from her grasp. He frowned. "Women's bodies are so frail. How do you manage to charge head on in a war and not… break your bones when attacked?"

Ino believed she had just been insulted. She let go of him and, just for the heck of it, propped her hands on her waist, jutted her hip to one side and pouted her lips. "We usually handle ourselves pretty well. But when push comes to shove, that's where you egotistical men come in. Right?"

Gaara's scowl deepened and it looked like he was keeping himself from shuddering. "Please… stop pouting with my lips… And don't… stand like that… "

Ino felt a grin spread across her face.

Ino, one. Gaara, zero.

* * *

_A/N: What have I gotten myself into? This chapter confused me to bits… XD_

_Anyway, I would like to inform those who are probably used to fast updates until now, that Yuugiri's 3-month long vacation is officially over and I have to go back to reality. Updates from now on will be very sporadic. Those who have stayed with me in my other GaaIno fic would probably be disappointed, because through the course of my vacation, I was able to update twice, if not thrice a week, which I wouldn't be able to do from now on._

_Reality sucks, eh?_

_But know that I WILL still be updating. Only not as fast as I used to._

_So, to my understanding readers and reviewers, until the next update! _

_Ja!_


	6. Chapter 6

She had stopped caring on how long they had been stuck in that green, mushroom-filled space. They had been battling it out between themselves ever since they had stumbled over another dark passage found at one end of the crevice, hidden behind a clump of protruding roots and more mushrooms.

Gaara had wanted to move on as soon as possible. Ino knew that it was the only way to go, but she was unsure of the idea of getting plunged into darkness once more, especially since she was stuck in a foreign body. Not only did they have a limited supply of light sources, but she doubted they would find any more places they could procure water. If only they had brought canteens with them, then perhaps it might had been a different story altogether, but they did not have even the slightest idea if they would be lucky enough to find a place like this again. And because of this, Ino was torn.

"Ino," Gaara called to her from across that crevice. After a few hours of spending time in each others' bodies, she had finally gotten used to hearing her own voice talking to her stoically.

She looked up from the sprinkle of sand she had on the palm of her hand and watched as Gaara came strutting towards her. She sighed as she watched Gaara try his best to walk as masculine as he could in a woman's body.

The result was too physically painful to watch that Ino lowered her gaze back to her hand and busied herself with slipping the grains of sand back into its satchel before standing up. Then, before she could stop herself, she reached down to brush her bottom only to be reminded too late that she was in Gaara's body.

Gaara… had a very nice bottom.

Her face burst into flames.

And Gaara appeared at her side.

"Are you feeling up my body's backside?" he asked as he dropped those blue eyes down just in time to see Ino snatch her hands away from that firm, muscled part of Gaara's body.

"No, sir. I was simply brushing off dirt – "

"Don't be so nervous," Gaara said flatly as he stooped down to pick up the satchel of sand and swung it over one shoulder to cross over his front, frowning a bit as the strap of the satchel went between his breasts. He quickly shifted his eyes way from his chest before Ino could react. "I think it's best if we start moving again."

Ino had to agree. They could not stay there forever. Her job as Naruto's bodyguard was, of course, on the line, but she also had a responsibility in getting Gaara back to his party. Gaara may not want her taking up that role, but now that she had just accidentally invaded the Kazekage's body by inadvertently using her clan's jutsu on him, the guilt was just too much to bear.

"I guess you're right," Ino said as she rubbed her cheek with a finger. She still could not get over how Gaara's skin could be this soft and blemish-free even when he lived in one of the harshest environments in the Ninja world, especially since she knew that he was using sand as a second skin. But that was not the time to think about facial care. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest before she looked down at Gaara, who had started digging into his pouch for something.

Gaara managed to pluck the three remaining flairs that they had from the pouch, and he took his time in examining them with a serious face. "We have three flares. A total of, what? More or less six hours of visibility?"

Ino nodded as she too stared at the flares, wishing they would magically multiply into dozens. "Given we don't run into more… _unfortunate circumstances _along the way."

Gaara raised a blond eyebrow at her. "Unfortunate circumstances? Ah, you're still stuck on the luck thing."

Ino frowned. "I'm not 'stuck' on the luck thing, sir. I'm merely stating the obvious."

That had him lowering the flares as he gave Ino a curious gaze. "Of all the years I've thought of you as probably one of the most level-headed kunoichi in your village, I'd never thought of you as… _a whiner_."

That had Ino's jaw dropping incredulously.

Gaara winced. "Please don't pull that face when inside my body. It doesn't suit me."

Ino ignored him. "I am not a whiner. I was just stating the fact that this little excursion of ours isn't exactly a honeymoon for me."

That had Gaara grinning for some reason. "Really? I'm actually enjoying myself here."

She did not believe him one bit. "I'm sorry to point out the obvious, Kazekage-sama. But while you are having fun and _'enjoying yourself'_, the Sand could be planning international warfare because of your absence. Having you disappear in a foreign land could lead to so many scenarios, the worst of which is losing alliance with the Samurai for allegations that could not be cleared because you're trapped in a cave in the middle of who-knows-where. And if – and that's a big _if _– we ever get out of here alive, I don't even know how to begin explaining to everyone that we've switched bodies. Not to mention how I'm going to face my father to ask him to change us back without embarrassing myself in front of my own clan."

Gaara shrugged uncaringly. "It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone."

"You don't understand. We shouldn't be having accidents around dignitaries such as yourself. Especially not with our _Kekkei genkai._"

"Well, given the circumstances we are in right now, I don't think that rule could apply to us at the moment," Gaara said, stuffing two of the flares back into his pouch and tapping the one remaining flare in his hand intently on his other palm. Then, as if an afterthought, he looked up at Ino and said, "You have the smallest hands."

Ino did not know how to respond to that. Instead, she found herself looking down at her own hands. They were the hands of a man who had spent majority of his life behind a desk, working with a quill and ink. They were large. Manly.

_Gaara's hands. _

She flipped those hands over, examined her fingers and did not even realize she was smiling. "Well, you have nice nails."

That earned her a surprised look from Gaara. His blue eyes shifted from Ino's face to her hands. "My nails?"

Ino clapped her hands together before crossing her arms over her chest. "Yes, your nails. And your muscles." She narrowed her eyes at him, taking a step back, instantly regretting what she had said. "I'm not talking about your ass."

He raised his hands in front of him, waving the unlit flare like a white flag of surrender. "I didn't say anything."

"Of course you didn't," Ino muttered. This was probably the only time she'd seen her face – right now Gaara's face – look so annoyingly… _annoying_. It was the way he used those blue eyes to stare back at Ino with that dry, almost uncaring look.

Ino felt her eye twitch in irritation. God, she couldn't wait to get back to her own body, if only for the benefit of her own sanity. She was not enjoying being inside a body of a very, very fine male specimen. Especially since that male specimen was, in turn, in her own.

She hurriedly snatched the flare from him. "We should get moving. Don't you think we should get moving? I think we should get moving."

Gaara's eyes were strangely vacant as he stared at her. "You're uncomfortable, aren't you?"

Ino had to suck in a breath and hold it in for a full ten seconds to calm herself down. Now he asks her. _Now, _of all times. She released her breath in one huff, then jabbed the flare towards Gaara as if to make a point. "With all due respect, Kazekage-sama, _sir_, but yes I am very uncomfortable. I'm not used to being inside someone else's body. And as far as I can tell, for however long we've been in this God-forsaken tunnel, you don't seem as worried as you should be."

"Of course I'm not worried. I am _Kazekage_. It's always a good habit to stay calm at times like these." Gaara used a hand to lower the flare Ino was using to point at him. "Besides, you're already worrying enough. If both of us started to panic, then where would we be?"

"Well, you don't have to make it look like you're _enjoying_ yourself," Ino countered, pushing past him and striding off to the direction of the passage they had found earlier behind the tree roots.

Gaara hurried after her, trying hard to keep up with shaky, female legs. "Please don't walk away so suddenly. I can't keep up with… with _these_…" He was referring to Ino's legs.

Ino abruptly skidded to a spot, suddenly realizing that he was right. Feeling a bit bad, she turned around to apologize only to find herself being mauled over by him. She ended up tripping on her own legs, long arms flailing as she fell backwards with a strangled cry onto the hard surface of the cavern they were in. She looked up just in time to see Gaara fall forward helplessly, uncoordinated limbs everywhere.

"Oh, mother of – !" Ino cursed as she lunged to the side, catching Gaara in her arms.

Gaara came crashing into her embrace and the two of them were silent and panting, Gaara on top of her, his long blond pony-tail spilling all over Ino's face.

"Are you all right, sir?" Ino asked shakily after spitting out a mouthful of hair.

Gaara twitched and pushed himself up against Ino's chest, looking down at her with disoriented, dilated pupils.

Ino swallowed hard and breathed harder as she met that doe-eyed stare. It was weird. Ino hadn't realized before that her body was this small, or how Gaara's body was this huge as compared to hers.

Those tiny hands Gaara had pressed against her chest clutched her shirt.

"Uhm, sir? Gaara?" Ino started, her masculine voice cracking nervously. Was Gaara all right? Was he hurt?

Gaara gave a start and blinked. "Thank you. For breaking my fall. I'm still getting the hang of these… ah… _sandals_. However you manage to fight in these is beyond me."

Ino couldn't help but smile, a little relieved that Gaara did not look hurt at all. "Wait till you put on seven inch heels. They're a requirement for some recon and disguise missions."

Gaara's face crumpled in distaste. "Self-inflicted torture. Like… " His hands flew to his chest. "Like these bandages binding your – _ngah!"_

Ino had jabbed Gaara smack on the chin with her palm. He stumbled backward more from surprise than hurt.

"Don't touch my chest!" Ino shrieked.

Gaara did not look too happy as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Your bindings are too tight. I'm surprised you can even breathe in them."

Ino flushed. She knew what he was talking about. Given, she had gotten used to having those wrappings around her breasts, but for someone – particularly a man – to suddenly have a bountiful chest strapped tightly for better fighting efficiency, it couldn't possibly be an easy feat.

Ino sat up clumsily, looking away. "Would… would you… "

Gaara looked up at her curiously.

Ino bit her lower lip. "We… _I_ can loosen it for you. If you like."

That had him thinking as he started to fiddle with the zipper at the front of his flak jacket. "You'll remove it? For me?"

Ino's face grew hotter still. "Well… not remove it. But… loosen it a bit. Come over here."

Gaara had the decency to look worried and even a bit hesitant as he slowly inched his way back towards Ino, crawling on all fours.

Ino swallowed as she watched Gaara make his way towards her and conveniently take his place in front of her, right between her legs. Perhaps this was not such a good idea.

Gaara was waiting for her.

"C-close your eyes," Ino stammered.

"Wha – ?"

"I'm going to loosen the bandages, and I will kill you if you so much as take a peep at my body," she threatened.

Gaara's left cheek muscle twitched, but did as he was told anyway. He closed his eyes.

Ino reached out and slowly pulled down the zipper of that Konoha flak jacket with shaky hands. Why was she being so nervous? This was her body, after all. She had dressed and undressed like this many times before. Now was no different.

But no, it wasn't the same. For some reason, having to see those hands, huge and manly, unzipping her clothes bothered her. Well, she might as well get this over with as fast as she could.

She pushed the flak jacket off Gaara's narrow shoulders, revealing the mesh shirt Ino had worn in going to the land of Iron.

Gaara shivered.

"Sorry," Ino apologized as she pulled the ends of the mesh shirt from under those bulky pants of hers.

"It's cold," Gaara muttered.

"Raise your hands over your head. Let me get that shirt off of you," Ino said.

Gaara did as he was told, and in no time Ino had pulled that shirt over his head, and he sat between Ino's legs in nothing but those bindings wrapped around tightly over the chest.

Ino stared at Gaara's face to check if he still had his eyes closed, and after confirming that he was behaving, she slid a finger under the left side of Gaara's chest to pull the ends of the bandages free.

She started to unbind Gaara's breasts, slowly freeing those them from those bandages, and Gaara let out a moan of relief, taking in a deep breath and smiling.

Ino started feeling very weird at looking at her topless body from someone else's eyes, and she didn't even know what made her divert her gaze from that part of her body.

"This feels… awkward," Gaara suddenly said weakly, his eyes still closed shut.

That comment got Ino started and her hands immediately began to rebind Gaara's chest. In the act of reaching around Gaara's back, her hand accidentally brushed his waist, earning a gasp from the Kazekage.

"Sorry," Ino muttered and she started to wrap the bandages looser around him. "How's this? Is this all right?"

"Much better, thank you," Gaara said as Ino threw the mesh shirt back over his head.

"You can open your eyes now and put the shirt on by yourself," Ino said and she hurriedly looked away from him. She listened for a few minutes as Gaara struggled with the shirt and flak jacket.

"Ino," Gaara suddenly said after a while.

Ino pursed her lips together, but did not say anything. She felt Gaara touch her shoulder from behind.

"Ino, just because I don't look worried about our situation doesn't mean I'm _not_. But we'll get out of here. I promise you that. Even if it kills me, I swear I'll get you back to Naruto's side."

Oh, sure he could easily just say _that_, but why didn't he realize that getting out of there was the least of her problems?

And, as if reading her mind, Gaara added, "You'll take me to see your father after we get out of here, and everything will be as it was before we got trapped in this tunnel. All right?"

Gaara was trying to cheer her up. She owed him appreciation even for just _that _alone. She turned to face him.

He had a serious look on his face, and those eyes were directed at her in silent determination.

Ino nodded and tried to muster a smile. "All right. I'm sorry, Gaara. You're right. Everything will be all right."

Gaara nodded gravely and he gave her shoulder a firm tap. "Good. Now that _that's _settled," he started as he hurriedly stood up and looked left, then right. "I need to pee."

Ino felt all the blood drain from her face.

Gaara looked down at her. "Are you going to allow me to take off my pants, or do I have to take you along with me to relieve myself?"

Ino blinked. Who was she kidding? This was not going to be all right.

Not.

At.

All.

Ino grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him towards the far shadowy corner of the cavern. "You will not touch _anything_. Do you hear?"

"Hn," was all he ever said in response, but Ino could practically feel the amusement radiating from him.

There was no doubt he was enjoying himself.

Damn him.

* * *

_**A/N: Another 2 or 3 more chapters to go. Maybe. XD**_


	7. Chapter 7

She was starting to believe that things could not get any worse than they already were, and so she had found herself ultimately resigning to her fate. No, it was not as if she had already given up on the _possibility_ of getting out of the stupid tunnel they were in; it was more on giving up on _complaining_ about their predicament. It was not hard to do after a while of resuming their trip down the passage they had found at one end of the mushroom cavern. They were back into the tunnel darkness they had managed to escape for but a few hours before, and for some reason they had fallen into a comfortable conversation as they made their way through the winding passage that resembled pretty much the path they had taken before falling into the mushroom cavern.

Ino had discovered that Gaara talked more when it was about his family more than when he was asked about himself, and because of this, Ino found herself learning about Temari and Kankurou more.

"Temari is stubborn and full of pride, but for some reason she gets along well with the Nara. It makes me wonder why they're not taking it to the next step. With the way things are going, they might as well get married," Gaara said as he paused to lean down to fiddle with a stone stuck in his sandal.

Ino looked over her shoulder, lowering the flare she had in her hand for him to see what he was doing. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think Shikamaru would be settling down any time soon."

Gaara frowned as he successfully extracted the offending stone and threw it to the side before straightening up, dusting his hands on his flak jacket. "I know of his personality from Naruto. Is it true he doesn't like women?"

Ino snorted, finding it odd to hear her make such an undignified sound with Gaara's voice. "Oh, I don't think he _hates_ us. I just think he finds us… _high maintenance._"

That had Gaara raising his eyebrows in amusement as they resumed their walk. "High maintenance? I guess I could understand where he's coming from. You women tend to be very confusing at times. But now that I've experienced being in a woman's body, I can see why you're being difficult sometimes. These sandals are painful, and yet you frolic around in them as if they didn't hurt. And you have such tiny bodies. I guess you have to make up for your physical weakness with your big personalities?"

Ino bit down hard on her lower lip and told herself that getting into a chauvinistic fight with one of the most powerful men in the five great nations was not a good thing to do. Well, it was not as if she was angry at him; she was acquainted with many men who think they were _all that_. But she was just not expecting the Kazekage to think the same way those men did, especially since he was in league with the former Hokage and the Mizukage, who were both female, but were equally forces to be reckoned with.

"Actually, _sir_," Ino started. "We make up for our physical limitations with other things than just our _personalities_. We may be smaller, but we are most definitely lither, and faster than most of you men." She sneered as she looked over her shoulder again to give Gaara a pointed stare. "And in occasions, _smarter _than most men."

Gaara returned her gaze with those blue eyes, and Ino was surprised when he smiled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said as an insult. I do believe that women are physically at a disadvantage when fighting men. But," he paused, using a finger to trace his jaw line. "With a face like this, you can conquer a hundred men by just smiling at them, and they would offer the world at your feet."

Ino missed a step and nearly fell flat on her face had she not caught herself by bracing against a wall. The stupid flare in her hand had to pick that moment to die out on her, and they were plunged into a claustrophobic darkness in one of the most awkward moments Ino's ever found herself in.

They were silent for a few moments before Gaara finally cleared his throat somewhere from her right. "Are you all right? Did you trip?"

Ino wiped her forehead with the back of her hand after throwing the burnt out flare away. "I'm fine. I just lost my footing a bit."

"Well, there goes one of our flares…" Gaara mused, and Ino heard a bit of shuffling from his direction. After a few seconds, they were once again bathed in the glow of a fresh flare as Gaara succeeded in lighting a fresh one.

Ino squinted at the sudden brightness and looked away from him, thinking it was a good enough excuse for her to hide her blush. It annoyed her how Gaara's compliment seemed to affect her. She usually would have just brushed it aside. She blamed it on the environment, and on the duration they had spent underground. They were down to two flares, one of which they were already forced to light. She was starting to really wonder if they were ever going to get out of there.

Ino pushed herself off against the wall. "We'd better get moving." She reached out and took the flare from Gaara, and no sooner they were back on the move. Glad that at least she didn't have to address Gaara's last comment about her looks, Ino decided that traveling in silence was the best option. She was starting to grow really uneasy with the way things were going with interactions with the Kazekage.

In all her life, more so when Naruto became Hokage, she had always seen the Kazekage as a very stoic – almost to the point of serene – and very, very quiet individual. The number of times she was able to engage him in conversation in the past were very few and she was only able to do so when she had to do research on desert flora in the Sand Village. And that had been, what? Four of five times in the past three years? She knew that this side of Gaara was most definitely of Naruto's doing. (And maybe the perverted side was something he had picked up from Kankurou?) She couldn't say it was a _bad change_.

In fact, she didn't even know _what_ to think about it. He had been throwing random compliments here and there about her looks. She did not like it.

"You know what? I could never have imagined you to be this… _liberated_," Ino said. "You had always struck me to be very serious. And… well… _just serious._"

"I am," Gaara pointed out. "I always take things seriously. It's my job."

She did not believe him one bit. "Well, you could have fooled me."

"I wasn't trying to fool you. What makes you think I'm not serious about things?"

Oh, and now he asks her. She stopped in her tracks, whirled around to face him in disbelief more than anything. He nearly walked into her. "Gaara. _Sir_. It's because you've been kidding around ever since we got trapped in this place. You said that you're just as worried as I am about getting out of here and I believed you, but there's something about you. Just… _something_… "

That had Gaara's eyes widening. "Something about me? What, so there's something about me makes you think I'm kidding around?"

Ino hesitated a bit, nodded. "Well, yes. That's one way of putting it, I guess." Not to mention he had been given many, many chances at making it look like he was… well… like he was hitting on her. Ino shook herself immediately. That last thought was not a good thought.

Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "Ino, the least you can do is tell me what it is you don't like about me."

Ino bit her lower lip and decided to ignore his question. She started to walk again in the hopes of dropping the conversation. Gaara would not have it. He grabbed her by the hem of her maroon tunic with those small hands of his then gave her a sharp tug. She sighed, all the while a part of her thinking that stopping too long was a waste of time and waste of flares. "It's not that don't like you," she said truthfully.

Gaara blinked. "So. You like me?" he asked quietly.

Ino's left eye twitched and her hand clenched the flare tightly. "Why are you doing this? I don't _like_ you!"

Gaara's face remained blank. "So you hate me."

Ino gasped incredulously. "Don't play semantics with me," she snapped. "I don't hate you. I don't even _know _you well enough to think anything _of_ you, sir. And I mean that with all due respect."

Gaara shrugged his shoulders off-handedly and looked as if he was thinking about something. For a moment, Ino thought she had offended him especially when he took the flare from her and proceeded forward thought the tunnel. With her long legs, Ino didn't even have to hurry to catch up to him.

Afraid that she might end up saying something to worsen the situation, she trailed after him a respectful distance away, hoping to give him enough space. The last thing she wanted was to complicate their situation. In all honesty, she wasn't sure what made Gaara suddenly fall into a muteness that was just too loud to bear.

After a long, _long _stretch of silence, Ino finally sighed. "Did I offend you?" she asked as she hurried forward to walk beside him.

Gaara shook his head, the long blond ponytail swinging from side to side. "No," he said shortly.

"Oh. That's good then."

Gaara didn't even try to expand on the conversation, like he always did. Now, Ino hadn't taken herself to be too concerned of what other people thought of her – she knew that she had a share of people who didn't think too well of her – but for some reason it bothered her that she might have just said something the Kazekage didn't find amusing. She was about to launch into brainstorming a plan to start a conversation with him when Gaara spoke as he continued to walk steadily down the path.

"The butterfly weed and wild licorice are healthy, by the way," he said quietly.

Ino gave a start. "Sorry?"

"The medical herbs you taught my people to propagate a while back. They're healthy and thriving. My medic nin are grateful."

"Oh… well, I didn't really do anything much," Ino said, a bit confused at the out-of-the-blue topic Gaara had started. "They were desert-growing herbs to begin with so it wasn't a big deal."

"You've supplied us enough to last us a lifetime. We're forever grateful." He cast her a quick glance before facing forward almost at once. "_I'm _forever grateful."

Now he was starting to embarrass her in an all new different meaning altogether. "I… well… it was really nothing special. It's part of the job description."

Gaara let out a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "That sounds very much like you, always underestimating the things you do for my village and being all too impersonal about it. Tell me, are you always so focused on your job that you forget about everything else that doesn't concern your mission?"

Another weird topic for conversation. Ino frowned. "I'm a kunoichi, after all."

"Indeed," Gaara muttered before once again letting out a laugh. "You were in and out of Suna in a hurry once your researches were done. You never stayed even for just a little longer for a bit of tea and rice crackers."

"T-tea and… ?" Ino stuttered. "There weren't any reasons for me to stay unless necessary. I didn't want to impose and overstaying was – "

"Even when the Kazekage invites you for dinner?" he interrupted.

That had her freezing in mid stride. It took Gaara a couple of strides before he noticed he had left Ino in the dark a few feet behind him. He stopped, turned to face her. "What's wrong?"

Ino clenched her hands into tight fists and discovered her palms were sweating. She quickly wiped it on her tunic before crossing her arms over her stomach. "You never invited me for dinner before," she said weakly.

Gaara's smile was evident even from that distance. "That's not true. I've invited you many times. You always said no."

Ino shook her head. "That can't be right. I don't remember you asking me."

"The Kazekage is busy. I was never given the chance to ask you personally. I had always sent Temari or Kankurou. At times I've sent a random subordinate. They would either ask you for dinner or tea. On one occasion or another, I think I had invited you to stargaze when there was a meteor shower in the desert. But of course, you said no. You always did."

Ino nearly blanched, hardly believing what she was hearing. She could remember those invitations. After her research which lasted for more or less a week, someone would always present themselves to her quarters and ask her out to an event, or a meal, or something else. She had always declined, not wanting to overstay more than necessary. There had been times she had been tempted to take up the offer, but those had been the times when the Leaf was having a shortage on available Medic nin, and she had to hurry to fill in some of the open slots for the hospital shift. She declined out of duty and never even intended to offend.

But not even once had she ever thought those invitations were from Gaara.

"If you had told me those invitations were from you, I would have – "

"I doubt that," Gaara interrupted her again. "And even if you did know that I was the one who asked you to join me for a meal, you would have come out of mere duty to the Kage of Suna." He shrugged. "It would have been more fun to have you over as just that, a _guest_."

Ino was starting to feel awfully uneasy. She hadn't meant to be rude to the Kazekage, but she sort of understood where he was coming from. But still… "Are you going to hold it against me that I never took any of your invitations? If you were so determined to ask me out on a date, you should have just asked me personally, off the record." She blushed the moment she heard the words escape her lips. At that moment, she had nearly forgotten who she was talking to.

"And there you go again," Gaara pointed out, gesturing at her with the flare. "Right now, you're thinking: I just talked back to the Kazekage. If I had asked you personally, I knew you would have made time, but then a simple talk over a cup of tea would be nothing more than an extension to your mission. So I had always asked someone else to try to check your schedule. It had never been open. And I just gave up on it entirely."

_Gave up entirely?_ What the heck was he talking about anyway? He made it look like he…

Ino swallowed hard as the most incredulous thought flashed through her minds' eye so ridiculous she scoffed in embarrassment. The way Gaara was talking, she would have thought the man actually… _liked_ her.

Now she was starting to think crazy thoughts!

She ran a hand though her short red hair and pulled at it nervously. "I would have considered it… "

"You would have considered stargazing with me without feeling uncomfortable and just enjoying the moment?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes. Well, no. I… I don't know."

"The moment we were trapped in this cave together, you went as far as offering your life before mine because it's your _'job'_. The first few minutes we found out we were stuck with each other, you had been stiff and frightened. It was common knowledge for a ninja to act on self preservation, but you had been very hesitant in taking off your clothes in front of me." Gaara sighed and shook his head. "Tell me. Have I struck you to be some sort of untrustworthy man that you would have rather chosen freezing to death than sharing my body heat?"

Ino let out an indignant squawk. "That's not true. That had nothing to do about you as a person. That was because you were the Kazekage that I didn't want to invade your personal space." That, and the fact that she had never thought Gaara to allow anyone near him without him squeezing the life out of them with a good old Sand Coffin. She had meant to _respect_ him, so finding out that she might have possibly… err… _'hurt his feelings' _was a complete surprise to her. "I was very, very grateful for your body warmth then. It saved my life. Thank you."

Gaara didn't look affected with her statement, and instead opened his mouth to continue. "Given, this is probably the first time we've actually been forced into a situation together, and I had somehow deducted that you've had this strange thought of me being… _who I am_. And so having you try to save me escape that hole had given me the hope that maybe you'd see me as merely a _man _who has his weaknesses. But instead you've somehow raised me onto a pedestal that doesn't really apply in our current situation here. You are a very strange girl." He shook his head. "Your fear of slugs was a wonderful discovery, though. You had always struck me as a very strong woman, and so seeing you acting feminine was a breath of fresh air for me. At that moment, maybe just a little, I had thought you were… how do you say it? _Pretty adorable."_

The memory of that embarrassing situation where she had nearly mounted Gaara's shoulders made her hide her face in her hands in shame. Gaara calling her adorable did not help a bit. "I didn't mean to burden you like that. It's just that slugs are… uhm…"

"You weren't a burden. See? You're being very impersonal again. And to think we've already agreed that you and I are just _Gaara_ and _Ino_ until we get out of here. There are moments when you still slip with a title or a _'sir'_ once in a while, but those were forgivable. When we started talking like how normal people talk, I enjoyed it." He was grinning now, however small a grin it was. "Having you make a big deal of several mushrooms had been interesting. I had thought since you are also friends with Naruto that you're already used to his humor, and so I was surprised when you got mad at me for kidding around. Maybe it really just doesn't suit my personality to be a prankster."

Ino felt herself twitch in irritation. "Joking around about possibly poisonous mushrooms is _not _funny, even for Naruto," she said, then added, "Although it really was something Naruto would have done. Hinata's told me of a time when Naruto had this mission away with Team Kurenai back in our genin days. That idiot seemed to like eating unknown fruit growing in the wild. Hinata hadn't known what to do."

That had Gaara shaking his head ruefully. "You were really worried about me then, weren't you?"

"If you had died, I wouldn't have known what to do with myself. And lugging your body would be too heavy."

"How selfless of you," Gaara said, a bit of sarcasm detected in his feminine voice. "And here I thought you actually cared about me."

He was making her blush too much in this talk. Hoping to end the conversation sooner than later, she sighed and said, "I _do_ care, all right? I told you before, it's not like you're a stranger to me. You're a friend of Naruto's and Lee's, and you could be the brother-in-law of a beloved teammate. See? It's not just because you're the Kage of Suna. It's because you're an ally. Are you happy?"

Gaara paused for a brief moment as if thinking things over in his head. "Yes, but not quite."

Ino threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Gah! Fine, what will convince you that I really don't hate you? Though of course I personally don't see why you're making a big deal about what _I _think about you."

"Dinner," Gaara stated matter-of-factly. "At your favorite restaurant in Konoha. Preferably after we see your father,"

Ino could hardly believe her ears. If she didn't see the serious expression Gaara had on his face, she would have thought he was pulling her leg. She started to sputter violently. "Dinner? _Dinner!"_

"You did say that if I invited you personally, you'd say yes. So I'm inviting you out _personally_. Have dinner with me."

This was insane. _Gaara _was insane. She pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to ward off an incoming migraine. "We're trapped in a goddamned tunnel with barely four hours of visibility. We have no food, no water and no means of using our jutsu even to throw caution into the wind and try to blast our way out of here. And here you are asking me out on a _date?"_

"Yes," Gaara said simply, as if it dark tunnels that went on forever were perfect places to ask girls trapped in boys' bodies to go out with them for dinner.

Her head was spinning. All logic didn't make any sense, and the image of the Kazekage she had been trying very hard to preserve in her mind came crumbling down completely. She stalked towards him, towering over him menacingly. He looked up at her calmly with those wide blue eyes of his, unblinkingly.

"Fine. Dinner it is. After we ask my father to switch us back. Are you happy now? _Kazekage-sama?"_ she seethed, propping her knuckles on her hips in the hopes to annoy Gaara with a girly pose.

Unfortunately Gaara did not look too affected with what she intended to make his body do. He was smiling in satisfaction. "I am _very_ happy, actually. I've been trying to get you to say yes for over three years. Who would have thought I'd get a chance here." Nodding his head in satisfaction, he turned around and resumed their little trek down the path. "Ah, if it weren't for that avalanche, you would have continued to elude me and make excuses about your work." He flashed Ino a knowing smile over his shoulder before turning away again. _"Aren't I lucky?"_

Ino, who was dragging her feet after him as she tried to rewind their conversation back in her head, wondered all the while what had led them to making her promise Gaara of the Sand a night in Konoha in her favorite restaurant. It was too confusing to even think about. She didn't even know what Gaara thought he could gain from this. "So tell me. You know that it was pure coincidence that I'm here as Sakura's proxy. What would you have done if it wasn't I who was here?"

Gaara shrugged uncaringly. "I was planning to talk to Haruno Sakura about you anyway. We always talk about you, she and I. I told you that, remember?"

And how could she forget. That was exact conversation she and Gaara were having before they fell unsuspectingly into the hole that led them to the mushroom cavern. She rubbed her cheek consciously with her thumb, embarrassed. She will have to have a long, _long_ talk with her best friend when – _if _– they ever get out of there. "I don't understand you. Why me, anyway? I'd thought you never even knew I existed."

Gaara stopped walking once again but did not turn around to face her. He was scratching the back of his neck timidly. "I thought I had told you the reason behind that, too. You don't remember?" And that was when he twisted his head slightly just enough to give her a one-eyed stare. "I had always thought you pretty."

And, as if the gods had abandoned Ino altogether, the flare in Gaara's hand sputtered noisily, gave off an unnatural amount of smoke and finally died with a very flat fizzling sound. They were swallowed up by the darkness around them in a heartbeat.

Ino blinked unseeingly. "It… died. The flare died."

"So it seems," came Gaara's voice from somewhere to her right.

"That can't be possible. It's barely been ten or so minutes," Ino said, her voice cracking again.

"It must have been a defective flare," Gaara reasoned calmly. "There's nothing we can do about it. We have to light the last flare. You have it with you?"

Ino immediately started groping with shaky hands for her pouch wrapped around her waist. Of all the things that could happen to them, of all the millions and millions of flares produced in the ninja world, she had to have picked a _defective_ one. Normally she would have thrown a tantrum already, but with the way fortune was treating her, she discovered she was not the least bit surprised.

In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if something unfortunate happened with the last remaining flare they had.

She managed to pull said flare from her pouch. For a second – no, a _millisecond_ – Ino felt a bit relieved with it in her hands.

The relief did not last long.

One end of the flare got caught against something that felt suspiciously like one of the folds of her tunic. One moment she had the flare safely gripped in her hands, the next moment it was gone.

She let out a desperate, frustrated yell as she heard the flare hit the ground with a dull _'thonk!' _followed by a _'kee-kee!' _that suspiciously sounded like a…

Like a flare rolling.

Like a flare rolling… _away_.

_Far away._

Ino froze in her place.

"What happened?" Gaara suddenly asked, worriedly.

Ino raised her face into the darkness and tried to regulate her breathing. "I think I've just sealed our fate."

And then they both fell silent.

* * *

_A/N: Ohohohoho! Two more chapters to go. Maybe. And that's a big maybe, which will depend solely on how Inoichi will react to this little predicament. XD_


	8. Chapter 8

Ino had never known herself to be afraid of the dark. The dark, the shadows, they were a ninja's friends and in many occasions she had always thought that the absence of light and visibility in all of her endeavors was a blessing to her.

Until now.

Well, the feelings she had inside her right now were far from _fear_. No, Ino was seldom scared of anything that did not include slimy, crawly living things. If anything she was… what was the right word for it? Ah, yes. She was _frustrated_. And very, very tired.

How long had they been in the dark since they had been torn away from their respective parties? It couldn't possibly have been more than a day, right? It didn't really matter. Nothing mattered anymore. She was just too emotionally spent.

"Can you tell where it rolled off to?" Gaara asked from somewhere in the darkness.

Ino slowly crouched down and tried to feel around her blindly with both hands. It took everything she had to stay calm and collected. She was starting to wonder if karma was starting to catch up to her. She knew she shouldn't have stolen her father's pudding in the fridge before she left for the Land of Iron. "I think it disappeared somewhere to my left."

"My left? Or your left?" Gaara asked.

Ino thought that that was a stupid question. First off, in the environment with zero visibility, she couldn't even tell which was whose left or right. She got down on all fours and tried to grope around into the nothingness surrounding her. "I don't even know which direction I'm facing."

"I haven't moved an inch since the flare died on us, so I know I'm facing the direction of the cavern we've come from," Gaara offered.

Ino nodded to nothing in particular. "Good. Don't move. At least one of us hasn't lost his sense of direction." With the way she had been crawling around in circles, she didn't even have a single clue as to where what was.

Of course, after everything that they had been through, Ino was not too optimistic in finding the flare she had dropped. In fact, in her head, she was already trying to imagine how it was to die of thirst and hunger, in the confines of a mountain cave, in the dark, and in a man's body. It was not a pretty image. She tried to shake it out of her mind, pushed herself up on her knees and rubbed her hands together gingerly, getting rid of the dust and small pieces of things she could not even see that had clung to her fingers and under her nails.

"It's no use. I can't find it," Ino said.

She heard a bit of movement from Gaara's direction. "Ino, this tunnel is pretty linear, and it isn't wide enough for us to make a wrong turn unless it branches out into a fork somewhere. We can either follow the tunnel back to where the mushrooms are where we can at least have a light source, or we can just take our chances and try to move on and hope for the best."

Ino swallowed hard. The mushrooms were a two-hour backtrack away, and she knew that even if they even make it back, then what? It was not as if they can do anything once they start over from there. But still, moving on in the dark through the tunnel was equally unappealing. A part of her couldn't let go of the possibility of finding the flare that had rolled away from her. But then again, there were no assurances she would be able to stumble upon it in the dark.

She allowed herself to sit down lousily on her behind, pulling those long legs of hers towards her chest. "What do you think we should do?" she asked.

More shuffling from Gaara. "I think we should just move on. There's nothing in the mushroom cavern we can gain but a bit of light, and that wouldn't do us much good anyway. But if we try to take the chance, we might get lucky and find the end of this tunnel."

In all honesty, Ino wanted to believe him. She really did. But there was no assurance in anything he had said, and she was already starting to get utterly depressed. She shook her head. "Gaara, you know was well as I that this tunnel won't be ending soon. The air is stagnant. The sounds are hollow. It can go on forever."

"We're in a mountain. It has to end somewhere."

"Or," Ino offered. "We could just end up going around in circles in the dark and we wouldn't even know."

"That could be a possibility, too."

Ino sighed, resigned as she buried her face to her knees.

Gaara was silent for a moment before he said, "So do you prefer we go back instead?"

Ino raised her face back up into the darkness. "I don't know. I don't know what to do anymore."

"It doesn't matter if you know or _don't_ know what to do. We have to do _something_. What do you want to do?"

Ino snorted. "Well, it's not like we have very many options, right?"

More sounds of shuffling feet from Gaara's general direction. "It's either we go back, move forward, or stay here."

Ino couldn't help but snort again. "Would it even matter what we do?"

"Of course it matters. Let's move on. It's going to be hard, but we can make it," Gaara encouraged her.

Ino knew that what he was staying was right. It was the only way to go: forward. Sure, they didn't know if the path down the tunnel could lead to a dead end. Or maybe a pit full of slugs. Or a never-ending drop into oblivion. But it was the best option they had.

But still, she did not like it.

"Fine," she said anyway.

Ino jumped when she felt a presence to her right, and a few seconds later something that could have been a finger poked her knee. It was Gaara. His tiny hand gripped her knee firmly and Ino could tell he had settled onto the ground beside her.

"You don't sound convinced. I don't want to drag you along in something I decided without a unanimous decision," Gaara said, his hand leaving her knee.

Ino could tell he was sitting but a few feet from her that if she reached out towards his voice she was sure she could touch him. She hoped to God he wasn't touching places in her body that he shouldn't be touching… "Of course I don't sound convinced. We're going to be making our way through this like moles. Damn it, if only I hadn't dropped that flare."

Silence, then, "That flare meant little to us, Ino. Even if we find it – which I doubt we would – it would only last for two hours at best and we would be where we are now. It doesn't make a difference if we have it or not."

"I know that," Ino insisted, looking away from the direction of his voice. "I guess I wasn't emotionally prepared when I dropped the flare. And I was careless – again – and now we've lost two hours of safe travel." Damn it, she had already been grilling herself about accidentally using her jutsu on Gaara and switching their bodies. Now, this. "I'm very sorry about this. I should have been more careful."

"Hn," was what Gaara said before busying himself with shifting in his place. "Things happen. It's not your fault. We should be thinking more of what we have to do now instead of blaming ourselves for this. Take my hand."

Now that was another stupid request. "I don't know where your hand is," Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"Just reach out your hand towards my voice. We can scale the walls and make sure we don't get separated. Now give me your hand."

Ino hesitated a bit, and after a second she reached out her hand towards him.

And ended up touching something very, very soft.

"Those… are my breasts," Gaara said, sounding embarrassed.

Ino quickly withdrew her hand as if burned.

"Don't pull away!" Gaara suddenly said. "Now I don't know where you are again."

Ino felt her face burn violently. "B-but I was touching – "

"This is _your_ body. You were technically touching _your_ breasts, so I don't see why it should matter."

He may be telling the truth, but still… having to touch her own body with hands that were hers but _weren't hers_ felt… _weird_. She vigorously shook her head, then after realizing that Gaara couldn't see her, she said, "It's disturbing."

"Being in each others' bodies is disturbing enough. Touching each other isn't any different. Give me your hand and once you touch me, please don't pull away so I would know where your hand is."

After a moment, Ino decided that what he was saying was logical enough. She reached out gingerly into the darkness in front of her and grasped at nothingness. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here. I'm right next to you."

Ino hovered her outstretched hand towards the direction of his voice and eventually, her palm gently brushed against something. For a moment she froze. "What am I touching?" she snapped.

"My cheek," came Gaara's voice. And no sooner did Ino feel something take her hand. They were Gaara's slender fingers. Ino immediately swallowed hard. She couldn't get over the fact that Gaara was using her body to make her feel giddy. Not that she was giddy or anything!

Not really…

"Let's stand up, all right? I have my other hand against the wall. If I turn around, we'd be facing the direction opposite the cavern," he said slowly as he and Ino got to their feet. It felt strange having to be led by the hand by someone smaller than she. Ino had never been especially tall as a woman, and so majority of the people she had to look down to when talking were but the genin and chuunin who were younger than she. But right now, as Gaara inch by painful inch moved through the darkness and tumbling twice along the way, she felt very self-conscious of the gentle down-pull from Gaara's relatively smaller form.

It was a slow advance for them with Ino scraping her forehead a few times on unseen rock that had nastily decided to grow somewhere overhead. There had been moments when Gaara would appear to stumble and the only thing that kept him up was Ino's hand holding his. None of them said anything until Gaara decided to break the silence.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked in a low voice as he continued to slowly make his way forward by groping with his hands and feet.

"So long as it isn't a stupid question, sure," Ino said mirthlessly, biting down a curse as she scraped her palm against a sharp rock protruding from the wall. She felt something warm spread on her hand and knew that she was bleeding. She pressed the wound against her tunic.

"If I weren't here to insist we move forward, what would you have done?"

It was a fair question. She had a fair answer. "I would have taken my chances at searching for the flare, I guess."

"Why?" was his next question.

Ino frowned. Why the hell not? "Because we planned on using the remaining flares and I wanted to stick to the plan? I don't know."

Ino heard Gaara laugh a bit in the darkness. "Even if there's no chance at finding it?"

Ino thought for a moment. Maybe. Maybe not. "We're talking about this hypothetically, right? If you weren't with me to decide on what to do?"

"Yes."

"I would have stayed on that spot, I'd have given up then and there."

"Even if you can take the chance in finding an exit if you move on?"

"Hey, I was answering truthfully on what I would have done if you weren't here. It's always easier to give up when you're alone."

Gaara was silent once more, and Ino thought that he was satisfied enough with her answer. The last thing she could have expected was to get a scolding.

"Ino? Why do you value your life so little?"

She was taken aback. "I don't understand the question. What does this have to do with our situation?"

"Everything and nothing, I guess. We've been stuck here together for a while now, and I feel as if you've already given up on us getting out of here."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. I just happen to be here to keep pushing you forward, and the only time you ever showed persistence was when you wanted to keep me safe. Like that hole I was stuck in, or the mushrooms."

And here they were again. Why was it so hard to explain to Gaara that she was not a deviant when it came to thinking this way? Didn't all ninja think the way she thought? She sighed. "I hate to point it out, sir, but I will. Just in case you're really not aware that a common ninja's live weigh nothing in this world. While you may seem to think that I find this morbid, I don't. I was aware of the job description when I decided to become a kunoichi. I know that there were great possibilities that life would end unpleasantly someday, and I'm prepared for that."

The hand holding hers tightened its grip for some unknown reason. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Now Ino was starting to get depressed.

She was barely three when she had decided to follow her father's footsteps at serving the Village because she had always thought Yamanaka Inoichi's job was _'cool'_. Of course, that had been _before_ Uchiha Sasuke. The life _after_ meeting Uchiha Sasuke, Ino had begun thinking that being a _'cool'_ girl was not worth sacrificing vanity. She had led a very embarrassing genin life, where she had thought looks were everything until Haruno Sakura gave her the wakeup call that knocked some sense into her that vanity was a small price to pay for a sliver of success.

When Ino turned Chuunin, she had redeemed herself even just a little bit where the death of her sensei had put everything in perspective for her. When she had been promoted to jounin, she knew how she wanted to live her life. And she was living it right now. Her Village's needs before her needs. Her client's wants before her wants. Her superior's safety before her safety. _Gaara's life before hers._

Her self-addressed rules were simple and easy to understand. It was annoying that she had to explain to Gaara, who was the Kazekage, when she knew that he wouldn't be able to empathize with her beliefs.

Of course she was already prepping herself to launch into a very, very long explanation about her beliefs when it happened.

The earth started moving.

She felt it vibrating from all around her; the ground under her feet, the walls surrounding them, the tunnel's ceiling. Everything started to shift, at first very slowly, then instantly gaining momentum.

"What's going on?" Ino demanded as she dropped to her knees. It took everything she had not to let go of Gaara's hand.

"An earthquake?" It seemed like Gaara had also followed her lead and crouched down low beside her as everything in the darkness around them shook and crumbled.

Ino could feel chunks of rock, big and small, rain over her head and she had to cover her nose with an arm after breathing in a large amount of dust that had her coughing violently. She could hear Gaara saying something but she couldn't make out the words over the noise of the mountain pressing around them, and for the first time in the hours they had spent in that enclosed tunnel, it finally occurred to her.

_I'm going to die here._

The realization struck here like a ton of bricks, and she was shocked when she found herself actually scared of the possibility. She was never going to see her family again. She wouldn't even know if Shikamaru and Temari would eventually get married. She was never going to know if Naruto was all right. She was never going to have the chance at telling Sakura off for talking about her with Gaara in many occasions for the past three years. She was going to die in Gaara's body.

And she was never going to find out how Gaara could be like over dinner.

She was never going to get married!

Ino shook herself immediately when the intensity of the tremors increased a few notches. This was not the time to think about getting married! The size of rocks falling over their heads were bigger this time, and Gaara let out a loud cry of pain which Ino suspected to be from a hit on the head by one of those rocks.

She did not know what had gotten over her, but she reached out instinctively forward, grabbed whatever she could in the dark in front of her and was luckily able to scoop Gaara into a tight embrace. Her hands were resting against what could be his shoulders and she crushed the Kazekage to her chest in a desperate attempt to shield him from any more of the ceiling that was starting to cave in over them.

"Are you all right, Sir?" Ino asked as she lowered her head down next to Gaara's head and hoped against hope she was talking to his face. Damn it! If only she could see! She didn't even know if Gaara was all right. Was he bleeding? Was he even conscious?

There was no response.

Ino started to panic. She shook Gaara roughly and raised her voice over the rumbling of the tunnel. "Answer me! Are you all right?"

Gaara coughed, struggled in her arms. "As fine as anyone could be in a cave in, I suppose," came Gaara's dry response and Ino felt him press hard against her.

Without thinking, Ino shoved Gaara against the wall, making him gasp at the sudden impact his back must have created with the vibrating tunnel wall against him. Ino immediately had her arms wrapped around Gaara and tried her best to shield his smaller body with hers.

"What are you doing?" Gaara demanded as Ino felt him clutch at the front of her tunic with those small hands of his.

"Just stay low, sir. There isn't much I can do, but I'll try my best to keep you safe," Ino said.

"Get off!" Gaara said against her body as Ino pressed herself even closer to him, practically squishing him against the wall.

Ino could feel large chunks of sharp rocks raining down her back, but she could barely feel the pain. She supposed it was the sand barrier Gaara used as an outer shell of his body. The perfect shield for Gaara. She was grateful for it, anyway. If she was going to die and Gaara was going to be forced to continue living in a woman's body, then he might as well stay pretty and unscathed.

"I can't get off you, sir, I'm sorry." Ino said, pressing her lips against something warm and soft that she thought could be Gaara's cheek. "I meant what I said when I told you that I would die for you if needed,"

Gaara tensed in her embrace. The hands gripping the front of her tunic left and suddenly, lithe arms were snaking around Ino's waist and pressing her closer. And she felt Gaara move, and the next moment she had Gaara breathing hard against her ear.

"If I could have just one request," Gaara started.

Ino swallowed, closed her eyes, nodded. "Anything, sir."

"Can you live for me instead?"

And perhaps that was when time stopped for Ino. The shaking, the rumbling, the rain of stones and dirt and hard objects on her back. Everything just stopped, and the only thing real at that moment was Gaara's breath against her face, the arms he had wrapped around her, and the feel of his racing heart against hers.

Slowly, Ino raised her face and opened her eyes.

And her jaw dropped to the floor.

There, right above them, through the ceiling of the tunnel they were in, was a roughly opened hole a few diameters wide, several meters high. Light streamed in from the outside, almost vaguely visible from all the dust floating around them. But there was no mistaking it. At the end of the hole, she could see a silhouette of what could be a man. She had to squint hard. Light after many hours of darkness made her eyes water.

And then she heard him call out to them.

"There you are," the silhouette declared triumphantly.

At the sound of that voice, Gaara hurriedly raised his face upwards, up into the hole and he too squinted into the opening. "Naruto?"

They were saved. _They were saved!_

Ino immediately released Gaara from the embrace so suddenly that Gaara nearly fell to the floor.

There was a long, long silence from Naruto's end of the hole before the Sixth Hokage said, "Were you guys… _hugging_ just now?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, we were," Gaara called out, as if announcing that the sun was shining.

Naruto snorted. "Get a room."

Gaara nodded, his blonde pony tail bobbing down his back. "Later. Maybe later. Now get us out of here."

Ino felt her world end then and there.

* * *

_A/N: How many more chapters to go? LOL!_


	9. Chapter 9

They were extracted from the underground tunnel they were in with much ease with Kankurou's handy old puppets and in no time, they were stuffed in warm blankets and neck warmers. Canteens filled with heavenly warm water were shoved into their hands and they had busied themselves with drinking their fill, oblivious of everyone else around them.

In the corner of Ino's eye, she could see Naruto talking to a small yellow toad as he handed it a sealed scroll. The toad nodded back at Naruto before disappearing into a puff of orange smoke. It was most likely a report that they had already found the Kazekage. She looked down at her canteen being held with those large, masculine hands and started to dread the inevitable. She nearly jumped when Temari kneeled down in front of her with a worried expression on her face.

"Gaara," the Suna kunoichi started as she searched Ino's face with the tenderness of an older sister. "Thank the gods you're all right."

Ino didn't know what to do, and she found herself freezing in place, casting a nervous glance at Gaara who was obliviously milking his canteen away as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Kankurou came up from behind her, staring down at her curiously. "You don't have your gourd." When Ino did not reply, he squatted down beside her and touched her shoulder. "Gaara? Are you all right?"

This was the most horrible thing ever. Her hand gripping the canteen tightened unconsciously. Well, she might as well get this over with. She jerked the thumb of her free hand over to Gaara. "Talk to him. I think you'll get really enlightened."

Temari was instantly confused. Ino knew that Gaara did not jerk his thumb around to gesture at other people. He acknowledged people with as little movement as he would allow himself to do. Temari's gaze swung over to Gaara, then back at Ino. "Did you hit your head or something?"

Gaara lowered his canteen onto his lap, brushed back the long, blond bangs hanging over one side of his face and said, "I'm Gaara."

From a distance, a wolf howled. And then everything fell quiet.

Temari blinked. Kankurou's eyes bugged, and after a long stretch of silence, the puppet master burst out laughing. He laughed for about three seconds before cutting it off sharply and saying, "That's not funny. We were searching for you for twenty-eight hours in the freaking _snow_, and you two give us some half-assed joke about Ino being Gaara."

Ino pushed Kankurou's face away. So they had been under the cave for over a day. She had no sense of time in the darkness. But it kind of pissed her off that they had taken it this long before they found them. "It's not a joke. I'm Ino. He's Gaara. Now get out of my face."

For a moment, Kankurou looked like he had been struck by lightning. Temari actually was rude enough to back away from her as if she were crazy. It was the eldest of the Sand siblings' turn to eye Gaara uncertainly. "You… switched bodies?"

Gaara screwed the cap of his canteen with those dainty fingers of his and gave Temari a bored look. He did not say anything.

Temari gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "She's telling the truth. I mean, _he's _telling the truth. I mean… "

Ino didn't care what Temari meant. She looked up to find Naruto looking down at her, arms crossed over his broad chest. The slight orange traces of the Sennin mode over his eyelids fading as he blinked, and those amphibian-like pupils of his changed from yellow to the startling blue Ino was used to seeing on him. He was frowning down at her, as if he already knew what was happening.

It was not as if Ino was afraid of Naruto. _No one _was afraid of Naruto. Ever since he had become Hokage – and even _before _that – he had always been the ever cheerful, happy-go-lucky guy that everyone adored. It was not easy to make him frown.

Ino swallowed, unsure of what to say after. She wished they would just start asking questions. She did not even know where to begin explaining, of if she should explain at all.

She was saved by Shikamaru who arrived by dropping down from a nearby tree, landing on the ground quietly a few paces from their party. He cursed when one of his feet pierced straight into the snow, up to his knee. He looked over to Ino and Gaara who were still sitting on a bundle of blankets the moment he got his leg loose. He noticed Temari and Kankurou's expressions and he was instantly wary.

"What's going on?" he asked slowly, deciding it wiser to just stay where he was by the tree. When no one answered him, he glared at Ino and Gaara. "Okay, so something's off here."

Naruto turned to Shikamaru, raised his hand and gestured for him to come closer. "Shikamaru. Come here."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed instantly. "Why?"

Naruto grinned his boyish grin, his hand still in the air. "We have a problem."

Shikamaru was still not convinced. "What kind of problem?"

The grin on Naruto's face widened. "I think Gaara and Ino have exchanged bodies," he said matter-of-factly.

Shikamaru let the statement sink in before asking in a very, very flat voice, _"What?"_

Ino rolled her eyes.

"Don't do that!" Kankurou snapped.

"What? Don't do what?" Ino demanded.

Kankurou shuddered violently. "The thing you just did right now. The _pupils_ disappearing and the _whites_ of your eyes just… _ugh!"_

Ino rolled her eyes again.

Kankurou shuddered again.

"Stop that," Gaara muttered.

"Yes, sir," Ino said meekly, suddenly remembering that she was actually using the Kazekage's body to annoy the Kazekage's brother.

This was not turning out pretty. Temari and Kankurou looked like deer caught in the headlights, probably having their lives flash before their eyes as denial started to slide down the surface, and resignation that their Kazekage was, in fact, inside a woman's body replaced it.

"Ino," Shikamaru said warningly, and the Nara was instantly towering over her. _"What did you do?"_

Now, Nara Shikamaru had never really changed much over the years, and he was as passive about almost everything in life as he was back when he was a boy. He hated exerting effort more than was necessary. But things that concerned with alliances was something he had always been very picky about, and that was because one mistake between hidden villages meant years of bothersome talks and a generous amount of volleyed scrolls every week. Shikamaru hated paperwork. He was smart. He knew how to add two and two together. The Kazekage did not end up inside Yamanaka Ino's body by himself. Oh, no, no. It had to be because of a _Yamanaka_.

"It was an accident," Ino said, feeling smaller and smaller under their gazes. "It was a harmless experiment that went… well, that went _bad_."

"This is a catastrophe," Temari said, almost to herself as she stared at Gaara's face, then his chest, then back at his face. "You're a woman. How do you expect me to explain this to the council?"

Shikamaru frowned. "It's better than finding frozen corpses, Temari."

Kankurou nodded after finally regaining his bearings. "He's right. And it's not as if this is permanent, right? I mean, you can fix it back, right Ino?"

Ino rubbed her forehead with a hand, slightly annoyed that she didn't have eyebrows to trace with her fingers. "We tried. It doesn't work. We have to go back to Konoha and ask another Yamanaka to set things right."

Gaara looked up at Naruto, who had been strangely silent all the while. "How did you find us?"

Naruto crouched down on his haunches beside Gaara. "When we got separated because of the avalanche, Shikamaru and I continued up Three Wolves for the summit, thinking that you guys would eventually rally with us there. Kankurou came a few minutes after us, and Temari followed soon after. We waited for a few hours, thinking that you'd show up, you know, fashionably late and all. But when you still didn't come, we asked the Samurai to break the rules just for today and let me use a jutsu to find you. The moment I was in Sennin mode, I knew exactly where you guys were, but we couldn't do anything with you so far underground. When you wandered up the mountain, I was able to drill a hole through without causing another avalanche right here."

Temari gasped. "Wait, you _knew_ all along where they were? Why didn't you tell us? We were looking all over for them for hours!"

Naruto shrugged then gave Gaara a knowing look that Ino did not miss. "It didn't cross my mind?"

Temari was livid. "I had snow up to my waist trying to find them in the groves south of here, thinking they were already dead!"

Naruto snorted. "We're talking about Gaara and Ino. The Kazekage wouldn't die because of a natural disaster. And I don't think Ino would want to die so ungracefully."

"You flatter me," Ino snarled before chugging down her canteen again.

"All right, break it up," Shikamaru said, getting irritated. "We found them. They're safe. Sure, they may not be in each others' bodies, but they're _alive_. And that's all there is to it at the moment." He reached down to help Gaara up, then realizing that it was Gaara in that female body, he grumbled something under his breath and turned to Ino instead. He paused then frowned. After a moment, he changed his mind again, and gently slipped his arm around Ino's waist.

Temari turned away, looking sick. "Oh, God. This is so wrong."

"What? I'm helping a woman up!" Shikamaru pointed out as he finally managed to get Ino to her feet.

"Yeah, well all I can see is _you_ with your arms around my _little brother_. Get away from him. Her. Whatever," Temari said, swatting Shikamaru away from Ino.

Shikamaru's face reddened as he backed away from Ino. Naruto shook his head in amusement but wisely did not say anything. Kankurou tried to hold back a snicker. Temari gave him a sharp look.

"This isn't funny," Temari said.

"No one said it is," Naruto said, scratching his head as he pushed himself up to a standing position. "In the meantime, let's get out of the cold and get them back up the Three Wolves. I already sent a toad ahead, so they're expecting the Kazekage."

Gaara managed to crawl up from the blankets draped around him. Ino reached down for him and helped him to his feet. "Then, let's not keep them waiting," he said.

That was easy for him to say. It was _Ino_ who was trapped inside the Kazekage's body. She bent down and grabbed a few blankets to drape over Gaara's shoulders. "Stay warm."

Gaara nodded as he pulled the blankets closer to his chest. "Thank you."

Kankurou let out a high, hissing sound as he recoiled from Gaara's side.

Gaara looked over to his brother, his reaction unchanging. "What's the matter?"

Kankurou rubbed the side of his arms vigorously. "I… nothing."

Ino hurriedly removed her hands from Gaara's shoulders, feeling suddenly self-conscious. She stuffed her hands awkwardly into her tunic. It was strange having to see Gaara speaking with her voice, looking with her eyes and gesturing unfamiliarly with her body. She would have thought she'd gotten used to seeing him in her body, but being surrounded by other people in broad daylight was a different story. He looked different in the light, although she had been so accustomed to seeing that face in the mirror everyday for the past twenty-five years. Gaara's serious, stoic personality did not fit in that face. Not on her face. Never.

She turned to Naruto. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you."

Naruto made a snorting sound and his grin broadened. "It'll take more than an avalanche to take me out."

"Of course. How stupid of me," Ino muttered as she let Gaara walk past her, looking small and very much drowning in his blankets.

Kankurou was instantly fussing about him. "Dude, you have boobies!"

Ino had the sudden urge to grab the puppet master around the neck and choke him.

Gaara beat her to it. No, he did not choke him, but he stopped walking, turned to Kankurou with an unreadable expression, then said, "You will not disrespect Yamanaka Ino's body in any form while I am taking care of it. You will not say anything lewd to her or to me, or make some perverted remark that will make her uncomfortable, or you will answer to me. Do we have that clear, brother?"

While some people would have shrunk at what Gaara had just said, Kankurou was more than used to it. He merely shrugged, looking very disappointed. "You're no fun."

Gaara resumed walking. "It isn't a walk in the park, believe me."

Kankurou and Temari trailed after him, Temari punching Kankurou roughly on the shoulder and muttering something about tact.

Naruto watched them leave, whistling low under his breath. "Gaara can be a bitch sometimes, eh?"

If he was trying to make things better, then he was failing miserably. Ino grabbed the remaining blankets on the ground and hastily wrapped them around herself. "Yeah, well, I'd expect as much. Unlike you, Hokage-sama, who _thrills_ in changing into naked blond chicks three times a week, Gaara didn't necessarily _choose_ to be a woman."

Shikamaru smirked. "And since when have you been on a first-name basis with the Kazekage?"

Ino was not impressed. "Since we got stuck underground like a couple of moles for the past twenty-eight hours, _genius_. What's it to you?"

Shikamaru did not look impressed, either. "For some weird reason, it doesn't look as threatening when you're saying it with the Kazekage's body. The lip pout isn't helping either. You look ridiculous."

Naruto laughed heartily. "We should hurry back. Maybe they'll let us take a picture of you with your infamous one-hip-out pose you use when you're impatient. I can use it to blackmail Gaara when I need a political favor."

"You will do no such thing," Ino said, jabbing a finger into Naruto's lean chest. The fact that she was as tall as the Hokage and she was able to look at him straight in the eye while she poked him made her uncomfortable. Naruto's blue eyes were dancing with glee all the while. She grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt and shook him violently. "Don't forget that it was _my_ fault this is happening to the Kazekage, oh wise one. We can't waste an important figure's schedule by being stuck in a woman's body. _In my body_. I've bothered him enough as it is, and I would appreciate if you could help me bring him back to Konoha and have my father switch us back."

"Let the Hokage go, Ino," Shikamaru said tiredly, sighing .

Naruto raised his hands in front of him as if in surrender. "You know as well as I do that we have protocol to follow. This isn't the Fire Country. The Samurai have rules. I had to break a few of them just to find you, and that's saying enough. We've postponed a very important tradition that marks the peace between villages, Ino. We can't just up and run just because you want to save face. We'll let Gaara rest, and the summit will start once everything's settled. And _then_ we head home. All right?"

Ino let go of Naruto, resigned. He was right. He had always been right. He was the Hokage, after all. She hung her head and moved to follow after Gaara's party. "Fine. Whatever."

She could hear Naruto and Shikamaru trail after her, and they were talking in hushed whispers as if she could not hear them.

"So Gaara's going to attend the meeting in Ino's body?" Shikamaru asked.

"We have no choice."

"Yeah. Well, it's not like anyone would mind."

"The most important of all is that Gaara's safe. And that Ino's safe. The Samurai should be sighing in relief that a Kage didn't die in their country."

Shikamaru let out a small grunt. "You sure are taking this calmly. I'd have thought you'd scold Ino for using her bloodline limit on Gaara."

And Naruto was silent.

Ino rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, suddenly feeling tired. So she will have to bear it a bit more. At least they were out of that tunnel. At least they would be able to sleep on a warm bed tonight, and a meal to fill their stomachs. Things could be worse. But she was hoping they would be better.

Ahead of her, she could see Gaara and his siblings walking slowly through the trees. Gaara's back looked so small between Kankurou's bulky form and Temari with that menacing fan strapped to her back. When they turned the path that led further up the mountain, Gaara turned his head to the side and for a split-second his blue eyes met Ino's teal ones.

And he smiled.

Ino couldn't help but feel a warmth spread on her face. She looked away. And ended up looking at Naruto who was watching her curiously.

"I didn't know Gaara's body was biologically capable of having blood rushing to his cheeks," he said.

Ino punched him in the gut. Naruto doubled over coughing and he dropped to his knees. Ino kept walking. "Yeah, well Gaara's body is biologically capable of doing other things as well. Don't provoke me."

"Is that how you treat your Hokage?" Naruto wheezed as he tried to catch up to her, holding his stomach.

"You shouldn't annoy Ino when she's in a bad mood," Shikamaru said. "Or I thought I didn't need to warn you about that."

Naruto laughed. "This is nothing. Sakura-chan hits harder."

Ino groaned inwardly. She couldn't wait for all of this to be over. She tightened her grip on the blankets around her and hurried up the path. She needed a warm bath.

She froze on her steps so sudden that Shikamaru almost bumped against her.

"Is there anything wrong?" Shikamaru asked her, wary.

Ino shook herself and continued to walk. "It's nothing," she said. Surely she can take a bath with her eyes closed, right?

Right?

She was feeling sick all over again.

* * *

_A/N: So I guess this is going to drag longer than I thought. I couldn't resist putting Ino and Gaara into a few more embarrassing situations before they get everything resolved, so bear with me a bit. This might last for four or five more chapters. I'm not really sure. It could be shorter. Or longer. LOL! _

_Try to close your eyes and help me imagine all the awkwardness in the following scenarios that have been running wild in my head. _

_One, Ino trying to wash herself in the shower._

_Two, Gaara trying to wash himself in the shower and Ino just not trusting him to behave._

_Three, Ino sleeping – and waking up in the wee early hours of the morning for the first time – in Gaara's body._

_Four, Gaara trying to put on make up. _

_And a few others I'd rather not mention. _

_Do you have a visual? Do you? Okay. Good. XD_

_Till next chapter._


	10. Chapter 10

The Samurai's stronghold, like everything else in the Land of Iron, was cold, damp and dreary, with battlements rising high over the snow-capped mountains like grey, quiet ghosts. Unlike the buildings and houses in Konoha which were built with wood and brick, theirs were made of hard stone, polished glass and shining steel. It was big enough to hold the parties of the five nations that were gathered for that day, and unlike Suna's administration dome, whose passages were intertwined like a rat's maze, the hallways were pretty linear.

Ino did not have to try too hard to remember where they were being led to rest, and she was grateful when the armor-clad samurai, looking as cold and as stiff as his surroundings, gestured to one of the narrow corridors to the left side of the main hall. Both parties of the two Hidden Villages followed the man through the empty walkway, their footsteps echoing loudly through the walls of the stronghold.

"These lead to the chambers prepared for the party from Konoha, Hokage-sama," the samurai said, pausing in front of one of the first doors to their right. "Down the hall are the public baths. If you go straight past it, there would be the banquet hall where we will be preparing a small feast in a few hours."

Naruto nodded briefly, slapping the samurai on his back enthusiastically. "Thanks a lot. We'll need just that to rest up and, ah… recuperate, so can you tell Mifune-san that I'll see him after I get my party settled in?"

The samurai bowed his head low. "Of course, Hokage-sama. The other Kage had been informed of the Kazekage's return as well."

"Tell them we're sorry to have made them wait," Naruto said.

The samurai shook his head. "Believe me, sir. They are not the least bit bothered. In fact, they seem to love the excuse to stay a bit longer while getting away from work. Onoki-sama, especially, is very, very pleased."

Naruto laughed as he led the way inside the room. Ino moved to follow.

"Kazekage-sama," the samurai suddenly said. "The chambers for the party from Suna are right across the hall. Let me take you there."

Ino looked over her shoulder tiredly and saw Gaara and his siblings behind them. She was suddenly reminded that she was… well… she was _not herself_. Temari sighed. Kankurou scratched the back of his neck. Gaara blinked at her, expectant.

Ino swallowed hard before saying, "The Hokage and I have… matters to discuss. Our chambers are the ones across from here?"

The samurai nodded. "Yes, sir. They aren't far."

"Then we can manage. Thank you for your hard work."

The samurai gave a formal salute, turned on his heel stiffly, then left them in front of the rooms prepared for Naruto's party. The six of them waited for the man to disappear around the hall before letting out deep sighs.

"Explaining would be… a pain," Kankurou said, stating the obvious.

Ino had to agree. It was not something needed to be hidden from the other Kage, she knew. But she was tired. They all were. And explaining to everyone they met was, as Kankurou had put it, a pain.

Naruto peeked his head out the door, as always, looking as relaxed as ever. "Well, standing in the hall isn't going to help. It's freaking cold out here. In the meantime, let's all just get inside. All right?" He disappeared through the door once more.

"Naruto's right," Gaara seconded as he gestured to his siblings who were still uncomfortably standing there, unsure of what to do. "It is wiser if we try to put everything into perspective before we retire into our bedchambers."

Temari blinked at Shikamaru and weakly pointed a finger to herself. "I have to report to Baki about the events happening here, and why there was a delay in the Summit. He wasn't expecting us to return a day late."

"Are you heading for the aviary, then?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Temari shrugged.

Shikamaru scratched his neck, looking bothered.

Ino stared from Shikamaru to Temari to Shikamaru. Her teammate's face was slightly flushed, and his ears were red. When Shikamaru didn't say anything, Naruto appeared out of the door again and gave the Nara a good shove towards the hallway, nearly mauling Temari over.

"Go with her. I don't even care what you guys do in the aviary. But if you scare the messenger hawks and the samurai sue us for it, I'll have your hide, Shikamaru. Now get," Naruto said.

Ino buried her head into one hand, embarrassed. Kankurou didn't even bat an eyelash, as if this was nothing new. Instead, the puppet master pushed past Shikamaru and Temari and went through the door into the Konoha party's chambers, whistling. Naruto followed after him.

Ino watched Shikamaru give Temari a warning look, which Temari chose to ignore. Instead, she gestured with her head down the hall and started away silently, not even giving Gaara or Ino a final look.

Shikamaru muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "Women," before he trailed after the Sand kunoichi. Ino followed them with her eyes until they finally disappeared around the hallway.

Gaara was watching her watch them walk away. "You look bothered."

Ino jumped in her place, suddenly aware of Gaara's abrupt appearance beside her. "What? No. Why would I be bothered?"

"They're always like this when they're relieved of their posts. I think it's a wonderful thing," Gaara said, shifting from under the blankets he had over his shoulders.

Ino couldn't help but frown. She had known that the two were quite… _intimate_… when off-duty. But she was surprised to find that Shikamaru was willing to do their usual rendezvous given their current situation.

And it was as if Gaara was reading her mind. "This isn't as bad as you think it is, Ino. Just because they ran off together does not mean they're not worried about us. Don't take this too seriously."

Ino turned away from him. "How do you expect me not to take this too seriously when it's my fault?"

"No one's blaming you. Things happen. That's all."

Well, of course they do. Ino felt a vein throb on her forehead and she rubbed at it irritably with a palm. "Why are you taking this too lightly, sir?"

"Why are _you_ taking this too seriously, _ma'am?" _Gaara shot back, the irritation evident as his light eyebrows furrowed over his eyes. So that was why she had always thought Gaara to be emotionless; it was a miracle what eyebrows could do to a person.

Ino shook her head, not even sure of what to say to him. He was right. There was nothing they could do at the moment until they meet up with a Yamanaka. Naruto did not look too bothered by it either. If anything, the Hokage looked particularly amused with their situation. "Let's get inside. It's cold here," was what she said, stepping aside to let Gaara enter the room first.

"Very gallant of you," Gaara said dryly, but walked past her to enter the room anyway.

Ino followed him inside and was greeted with a welcoming wave of warmth emitted by a cheery fire in the iron hearth, fed with an abundance of coals that glowed a fiery orange in the dimly lit room. She immediately shed her blankets and threw them over an uncomfortable-looking hardwood chair situated by the wall of the narrow antechamber. Gaara on the other hand did not bother to remove his layers and was almost immediately in front of the fire, holding his small hands out and sighing in relief. Ino wondered if her body was really that weak against cold climates.

As Ino ventured further into the room, she found that the quarters that were provided for them were not as impersonal as she thought they were. If anything, the room looked very homey. Two fairly big beds were located on opposite sides of the room sandwiching a space laid down with a thick wolf-skin rug. A low table surrounded with floor pillows was located in the middle of said rug, where Kankurou was already busy with brewing tea from a tea set on top of the center table. At the other side of the room was an arched doorway that led to another room with a bigger bed and a huge yew desk housing scrolls, quills and other things Ino could not make out. There were no windows except for the one right in front of the desk in the annex room. Naruto was already positioned on said desk, looking very serious and very un-Naruto-like as he pulled out a fresh scroll from the stack and begun jotting down something.

"How do you insulate yourself without an iota of extra fat in your body?" Gaara suddenly asked, and he almost sounded like he was complaining. He did not take his eyes off the fire as he huddled inside his blankets deeper.

Ino froze in place for a few seconds before she dropped down across Kankurou, who was now pouring four cups of steaming green tea on brown clay cups. "I will the cold away with the power of my mind, sir. It's very effective," she said sarcastically as she reached out for one of the cups and wrapped both hands on it gratefully.

Kankurou clicked his tongue against his teeth as he looked at Ino, amused. "You're awfully cranky. You have a burr in your pants or something?"

Ino bared her teeth at him. "No. I have a penis in my pants. And the last time I checked, women aren't supposed to have penises in their pants."

Kankurou was left choking on his cup at what Ino said and after a moment he was laughing heartily and pounding on the table with a fist. The two untouched cups of tea nearly toppled over. "Ah, Ino. You made this year's Peace Summit interesting for me. Tell me, will you be coming again next year? Coz if you are – "

"No. Never. Ever," Ino snapped, annoyed. "The only reason why I'm here is because Sakura couldn't come. And here I had expected you to be whining about her not coming this year."

Kankurou wiped a few tears that had spilled from laughing too much. "I can always visit the Leaf, what with your Immigration granting Suna residents free passage starting this year."

Ino smirked at him. "You don't even have the decency to deny it, do you?" She sipped her tea leisurely. "I'll just have to let it slip on Sakura that you're coming over one of these days _just to see her_."

And that had Kankurou choking on his tea again, this time, not out of humor but out of shock.

Ino leaned an elbow on the table and put down her cup, grinning mirthlessly. Count on Kankurou to laugh at her misfortunes. Given, she laughed back at him for _his_, but still… She couldn't believe he would still poke fun at her even in this predicament. Well, if he was low enough to make it look like exchanging bodies was some sort of joke, then she would stoop as low to poke at his non-existent love life with her best friend.

Kankurou did not look too happy with her doing so. He downed his tea, eyes watering from the stinging in his throat from drinking too hot liquid too fast. He pushed himself up on his feet. "I'm soaking in the public baths," he declared.

Ino snorted. "Go. Goodbye."

"Don't snort with my body," Gaara said, finally deciding to get up from the front of the fire. He looked absolutely awkward as he stepped on his blankets, nearly falling backward as he seemed to stumble on his own feet. "A bath doesn't sound too bad. I could use warmth in my bones right now."

"I'll go get the towels from our rooms, then," Kankurou said, crossing to the antechamber in five large strides and he was gone out the door.

That was the time when Naruto poked his head out of his room. "You guys off to the public baths?"

Ino rolled her eyes and slouched on the table lousily. "Get out of here, all of you. I don't feel like going anywhere."

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows skeptically. "Are you sure?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "Of course I am."

"You're letting Gaara – who is, yeah, in your body – to soak in a public bath? With a few other naked men?"

It had slipped her mind. How could she have let this tiny fact slip her mind? She slapped her forehead with a hand, giving herself about five seconds to compose her thoughts. When Gaara walked past her, her hand shot out and she grabbed his ankle. "You're not going anywhere," she said.

Gaara, looking surprised, looked down at her with wide blue eyes. "I'm cold," he said, as if that was a good enough excuse for indecent exposure in a public bath.

"You're in my body!" Ino seethed between clenched teeth. She let go of his ankle and scrambled to her feet, towering over her menacingly. "You will not bathe while you're in my body!"

This did not please Gaara, which surprised Ino. The Kazekage had been very passive about almost everything that concerned their switch, but it was the first time she had gotten a negative reaction from him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "The Kazekage bathes when he wants to bathe," he said.

Ino crossed her arms across her chest as well. "When we were stuck in that cave, you've been more than adamant about me forgetting about you _being_ the Kazekage, who, may I remind you, is a _she _right now."

Gaara furrowed his brow. "Then I will bathe in the women's bath."

Ino's jaw dropped open in disbelief. "And let you see my private bits? I don't think so!"

That had Gaara blushing for some reason. "I have no interest in your private bits," he said after a very, very long unconvincing silence.

Naruto was watching them in interest as he stepped out of his room, tapping a quill on an open palm. "Gaara wouldn't do anything bad, Ino. Trust me."

Ino turned to Naruto sharply. "No, _you _trust _me_. I will not leave my body naked and defenseless in the hands of… of… "

Naruto nodded, encouraging her to continue.

Ino felt her cheek twitch in irritation. Gaara hadn't actually been the perfect gentleman when they were alone back in that cave. How many times had he fondled her private bits that he claimed he didn't care about?

"In the hands of whom, Ino?" Naruto inquired when she didn't say anything for a while.

Ino gestured at Gaara, who tried to look wide-eyed and innocent with those blue eyes of his. "In his hands."

"This is Gaara," Naruto pointed, eyes shifting from Gaara to Ino.

"Exactly," Ino said.

Naruto shrugged. "You've been in the outdoors for a day and a night. As your Hokage," – he nodded at Ino – "And as your friend," – he nodded at Gaara – "I'm gonna have to insist you take a long soak, warm yourselves and get ready for dinner. We've caused enough problems for Mifune-san already, so I've decided we're not gonna bother them any further with… _this._" He gestured at the two of them in a careless wave.

Gaara blinked at his friend. "What do you mean, Naruto?"

Naruto patted Gaara's shoulder lightly. "Simple. We'll go on with the Summit with Ino as you and you as Ino, attend the Summit as if nothing were out of the ordinary and leave once it's over. The samurai wouldn't know the better."

Ino gasped in incredulity. So was Naruto assuming she would be sitting with the five Kage without even complaining about it? Unforgivable! "You've decided this all by yourself? So, what? You're going to _lie _to the Allied Shinobi Nation Leaders in a _peace summit?"_

Naruto gave her a level look. "And whose fault is _that?"_

Ino bit back a remark, her fight dying down almost instantaneously. She ducked her head.

Naruto shuddered, and his hands were shaking Ino's shoulders sharply. "Do. Not. Sulk. Gaara doesn't sulk. Now if you're more than desperate to save your face in front of people who don't have to know about this, act the part. You know, like, act stiff as if someone stuck a rod up your – "

Ino shoved Naruto's face away. "Don't even try to continue that sentence."

"I do not have a rod up my ass," Gaara suddenly said, looking small and very frail between Naruto and Ino at the moment, his eyes – those blue eyes that Ino had trained to look cunning and sexy and alluring and kind depending on the situation – were watching her and Naruto, reproachful.

"I never said you did," Naruto said, grinning despite himself. "You just act like you have one. You know. Stiff and all that."

Gaara frowned and he came to actually jutting out his lower lip. He did not say anything.

Naruto sighed. "Look, if you don't trust him at all, why don't you just go and give him a bath yourself? Heck, come to think of it, why don't you just go take a bath together?"

Ino let out a sound that sounded like something between a hiss and a snarl. "Can you hear yourself talking, Naruto?"

Naruto was starting to get annoyed himself. And that was something she had not seen in quite a while. "You're the only one making a big deal out of this, Ino. So take responsibility for your little girly needs. You make it sound as if Gaara's invaded your body on purpose to do perverted things with it when everything is the way it is because _you _were careless. Now, the Kazekage wants a bath. Scrub your private bits on your own if it'll make you happy, but you will not deprive the Kazekage what he wants. Especially not after the trouble you've caused him. Do you understand?"

Ino could not argue. Because the stupid Hokage was, once again, right. She watched Naruto stalk towards the antechamber where the crude intercom that was most probably connected to the communications tower of the stronghold was. He pressed a small button found on the small device and started to speak.

"Hey. Anyone there?" Naruto asked quietly.

There was a few second interval of silence before someone replied. "Hokage-sama. Is there anything you need? Mifune-san is still a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"No, it's all right. Mifune-san can take his time. I'm calling to ask a favor."

"A favor, sir?"

Naruto looked over at Ino pointedly. "A year ago, you were kind enough to let me use one of the private hot baths within the stronghold. I was hoping if maybe you'd be able to provide the Kazekage one of those for his disposal before dinner?"

There was another pause on the other end of the line. Then, "For the Kazekage, sir? I'm sorry to inform you that the open air baths are all being used by the other Summit delegates at the moment. Uh… but we have the less grand bath cloister in the inner rock garden available, though. If that would suit the Kazekage-sama's taste."

Gaara raised his eyebrow curiously, and Naruto nodded. "Is there anything that you think the Kazekage wouldn't approve about it?"

Another pause, then, "Uh, it's smaller than the open air baths we usually leave for a Kage's disposal. But this is of short notice, and the Kazekage had never used them before so… "

Ino felt her blood run cold. This was not happening. She was starting to wonder what could be worse: having Gaara take a bath by himself with her body, or being alone with Gaara in a small bath cloister in the middle of a freaking rock garden.

Of course, Naruto had to answer for her after smirking at Gaara whose face was as placid as a frozen lake. "The Kazekage approves of the small cloister."

Ino felt even sicker, and she tried to convince herself that this was the lesser evil.

Kankurou decided to return with a couple of towels then. "Hey, Gaara. I just remembered, but are you all right with taking a bath in Ino's body?" He had realized too late, of course. Because he was Kankurou and all.

Ino didn't even bother to explain to him what they had decided upon. She dropped weakly in front of the center table and buried her head into her arms.

"That's all right, Kankurou," she heard Naruto speak. "Ino doesn't trust Gaara to take care of her body. So we've come to a conclusion that Ino would be a lot more comfortable if they took a bath together."

And Kankurou was silent. After a few seconds, the puppet master let out a low whistle before saying, "O… kay. I mean, wow. That's… kinda kinky."

Ino looked up to give Kankurou a good punch in the gut. Once again, Gaara beat her to it. The Kazekage had delivered a very handsome left hook to Kankurou's lower abdomen, causing Kankurou to double over and drop the towels in his arms.

"I've warned you once. Don't let me warn you again," Gaara said under his breath that admittedly would have looked quite convincing, if he weren't a girl.

Kankurou coughed a few times before waving a hand at Gaara carelessly. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Gaara turned to Naruto as he picked up two of the fallen towels from the ground. "Let us have a proper meeting about this after dinner, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "Yeah. Kankurou and I will be in the public baths, so if you need anything, you know where we are."

Gaara held out a hand at Ino, who stared up at him, unsure of what to say. "I doubt we would need anything of utmost importance."

Ino could not believe this. She swatted his hand away and got up by herself. "Exfoliating cream."

Gaara blinked at her. "What?"

Ino grinned evilly. She might as well take this as a good enough opportunity. She was sure that her body would need a good, old-fashioned leg wax sooner than later.

Preparation meeting opportunity, right? So maybe could be lucky after all. She had always hated the feeling of waxing her legs. She was sure Gaara was not going to like it, either.

* * *

_A/N: Your reviews have inspired me. I may use some of the scenarios you guys have brought up because you're all awesome! _


	11. Chapter 11

Ino did not know if the Samurai who Naruto had talked to earlier was lying about the size of the bath cloister in the inner rock garden, or the Samurai's definition of "small" was different from hers. Because the place was _huge. _

No, it was _too huge. _

The said open-air bath was right smack in the middle of the _Wa _rock garden located in the eastern part of the stronghold, surrounded by high walls composed of large boulders that served as a barrier from the outside. The ceiling remained open to the sky, which right now looked dark and dreary and ready to give way to more snow. Despite the place being exposed to the elements, the steam rising from the fairly spacious hot spring kept the place strangely warm, and aside from the wind that once in a while blew in from overhead, the place was very… very…

"This is… intimate," Gaara filled the thought for her as he stepped out into the rock garden, sliding the bamboo door behind him. He had a bundle of towels over one arm, a wooden bucket of what looked like toiletries on top of them.

No truer word could have passed Gaara's lips. Because that was exactly what the place was; _intimate_. Even Ino had to admit that if she weren't in such a predicament, she might have actually enjoyed the beauty of the natural rock formations surrounding them, the simple but definitely wonderful landscaping of the pines and evergreens at one portion of the closure, and not to mention the very inviting hot spring in the middle of it all.

Ino suddenly felt sick. She was alone with Gaara in this place. And much to her horror, Gaara was already heading to the small gazebo to their left, obviously stationed there for changing clothes. She followed after him hastily, nearly slipping on the wet rocks below her feet.

Gaara gently placed his things on one of the bamboo benches built in the gazebo and looked over his shoulder at her expectantly, those blue eyes searching her face as she skidded to a stop a few feet behind him.

Ino had her arms wrapped around her immediately. "What?" she asked uneasily.

Gaara gave her a long-standing stare before delivering a one-sided shrug that did not look to appealing on a woman's body. "Why are you being difficult?"

Ino could not help but gasp. She was being difficult? _She was being difficult!_ How on earth could he accuse her of being difficult? What was he expecting from her? "I don't believe you!" she said incredulously. "You act as if this is nothing out of the ordinary."

This time, it was Gaara's turn to sigh. He slipped off his sandals and pushed them under the wooden bench with his toe. "Ino, how many times do we have to talk about this? We've been on and off this conversation since the cave incident. You're in my body. I'm in yours. There's nothing else we can do about this." A shiver wracked his lithe body and his hands rubbed the sides of his arms vigorously. "And I am cold."

Ino could only bite her lower lip and shiver along with him. He was, as always, right. She had been trying desperately to keep whatever modesty she had left, but she had been fighting the inevitable. And what sucked more about that fact was that it was all her fault. Not that she didn't already know _that. _She shook her head in resignation. She might as well just say it out loud.

"I don't trust you in my body."

She had expected him to jump into denial, or even pretend to be shocked of her accusation. Instead, he merely blinked at her. Then he said, "You think I will be… inappropriate to it? To _you?"_

"As if you haven't been all throughout the hours we're together underground," Ino pointed out, feeling suddenly hot in the face. She could not believe she was having such a conversation with the Kazekage about this.

This time, Gaara had the nerve to raise an eyebrow at her. "How have I been inappropriate to you?"

Ino didn't even hesitate to state the incidents. "On the first hour of us being stranded together, your sand fondled my ass even before I knew what was happening."

"I was trying to keep your ass warm. Because I had the inkling that you loved your ass." Gaara unzipped his flak jacket and neatly folded it on the bench. "If anything, it was you who made the first move, climbing all over me shamelessly when harmless slugs started to pour out of the walls of that underground tunnel."

Ino was scandalized. "I did not climb on you because I wanted to!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. "Really now?"

"You happened to be the nearest thing I could cling on to!"

"That's beside the point."

Ino's mouth closed and opened helplessly, at a loss for words. In a feeble attempt to save whatever was left of her pride, she said, "Well, if it weren't for me, you would still be stuck in a hole."

Gaara sighed, rubbed his forehead briskly. "What do you want from me, Yamanaka Ino? I assure you, I never planned any of this. I just want a bath." And with one swift move, he hooked his dainty hands on the belt loops of his pants and unceremoniously pulled them down to his ankles. He was now standing in front of her in those form-fitting black shorts and mesh shirt.

"What on earth are you – " Ino started to protest, but she was interrupted by Gaara suddenly lunging at her, grabbing the neck of her maroon tunic and ripping it open, popping several buttons in the process. Out of instinct, her arms were around her chest – her lean, very, very built chest – and she squealed like a girl.

Gaara gestured at her exposed upper body. "If you still haven't noticed it, this actually works both ways. I'm in your body. You're in mine. Whatever worries you may have in your head right now, trust me, I know. But I promised you that I will take care of your body while I am in it. And right now, it is freezing. And so is mine. Is it too much to ask for you to worry about my body, too?"

Ino did not know what to say to him. She was too busy covering herself for a reason even she herself did not understand.

Gaara did not waste any time. Taking advantage of her silence, it took him but two seconds to take off his shirt, and three seconds his shorts. He neatly piled the clothes on the bench, as if standing in nothing but panties and breast bindings in the middle of an open-air bath was the most normal thing in the world. Ino could not believe he was stripping in front of her!

"S-stop right there!" Ino squeaked with little conviction when Gaara turned to her again and reached out with both hands.

Gaara had a stern look on his face as he brushed back the blond bangs that fell over his eyes as a cool gust of wind blew in from above. He was done listening to Ino, apparently, because he grabbed Ino's wrists uncaringly with a strength Ino didn't even know her body had. He shoved her against one of the pillars of the gazebo and tore the tunic off her shoulders. He discarded the piece of clothing on the backrest of a chair near them before he pressed his small hands on Ino's abdomen. The touch sent a tingling, unfamiliar feeling through Ino's spine and she swallowed.

"Ino," Gaara murmured.

Ino swallowed. "Yes, sir?"

"Take off your clothes. If you don't, I shall do it for you. And I believe that would not be pretty." He reached down and hooked his fingers on the band of Ino's pants and pulled gently.

Ino swatted his hands away. "All right, already! Sheesh!" She was trying to be nonchalant. It was not working, because she knew she was blushing like crazy.

Gaara was already working on his bindings, pulling at the knot tucked underneath his left breast.

Ino watched him as he successfully removed the bindings. He did not so much as blink as he went straight for her panties, shrugged them off, tossed them along with the other articles of clothing and stalked towards the hot spring without another look at Ino. He eased himself inside the hot water with a sigh escaping his lips.

Ino gaped at him in disbelief. He did not even bother to wrap a towel around his head. She could just imagine how dry it would make his hair after this bath…

"Ino," he called from his place inside the water.

"What?" Ino snapped.

"If you don't get in here, I'll fondle your breasts."

Ino was out of her pants and underwear in a heartbeat and nearly dived into the water next to him.

She did not even care about the… _dangly bits_ that she could not help but feel on her.

Gaara sat there comfortably with the water up to his neck, his back planted on a curved rock. It may be because of Ino's behavior that he had decided to drape his arms on either side of him on the rock to show her that his hands weren't wandering to places they shouldn't be wandering.

Ino sank further into the water, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Admittedly, the warmth did wonders to her nerves and it wasn't long before she found herself lolling her head back behind her, eyes closed and thoughts of Gaara – and the maleness of Gaara's body – completely forgotten.

That was until Gaara started talking to her.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he started.

Ino wrenched her eyes open and gave him a one-sided stare. "I never said I hated you, sir."

Gaara shifted slightly, causing the hot water to ripple. The wind had started to pick up outside, and with the temperature dropping around them, the steam rising from the hot water made it hard for them to see. Ino could make out a blurred Gaara a few feet away from her. She flexed her hands in front of her, examining those long, male fingers as she bit her lip. She did not hate him. How could she, when she knew this was her fault to begin with? She was just looking for someone else to blame. Or worse, she was looking for a reason to be mad at someone else other than herself.

She had promised herself that she would be more responsible, and it was as if one night trapped with the Kazekage had set her a decade, back when she was still a naïve Genin. She looked away. "I don't hate you…" she repeated with little conviction.

"Well, you most certainly don't like me, either," Gaara said to her.

Ino rolled her eyes in frustration. Not this conversation again. Why was he so convinced that she hated him? Was she really projecting that kind of aura?

Well, maybe she was. Maybe she was being a bit too hostile. Not that she wanted to. She wouldn't have even dreamed of talking back to a superior. It was Gaara who had been more than persistent to make her treat him like an equal. And this was how she normally treated lecherous men who tried to fondle her breasts. So what was the goddamn problem?

"Why are you so obsessed on me liking you or not? I'm not in the position to hate you, sir," Ino said diplomatically, lazily treading water with her hands.

There was a small splash from Gaara's side of the water, and after a while, he said, "I would have been happier hearing you say you hated me instead of implying as if you didn't care."

Ino frowned. Was it her imagination, or was Gaara… mad? She looked over to his direction and saw his silhouette stooped low over the water. "I do care. Oh, dammit. What's wrong with you? You sound like… like a girl."

There was a grunt followed by Gaara sighing. "I'm sorry. I think it's your female hormones getting the best of me. Could this be what a mood swing is? This is really uncomfortable."

Ino could not help but shake her head ruefully. "I know the feeling. It's like twisting logic, and finding a good enough reason to be sensitive about the littlest of things. Women, right?" She hesitated a bit before she let herself wade through the water towards him. She was being unfair to him. She was not the victim here; Gaara was. And if anything, he looked to be having a harder time than she was.

"Gaara," Ino started as she finally reached his side. He was his head bent low, his long, blond hair floating around his body like a veil. His face was unreadable as he kept his eyes down on the ripples surrounding him. "I don't hate you," she said gently as she gathered his golden locks with her hands and pushed them over his shoulders. "I hate the circumstances that we've been in for the past day. I hate the way things have turned out in this mission. And I hate myself for behaving like I did when I knew I could have done better. That's all."

Gaara gave her a one-sided stare and blinked twice before turning away from her again. "There's nothing we can do about that."

"I know. I was just looking for someone to blame. I'm sorry. You know me. You said so yourself. I value my job more than anything. It's my life. Back when I was young, I never really took it seriously and got sidetracked a lot by…" – boys? Sasuke? – "… by a lot of things, and trust me, those were the days I will regret until I die. And I gave everything up to be where I am now. It's what I _am_. It's what I _do_. You of all people should understand that. You're Kage. You can be nothing less than what you are. And I can be nothing more." Her hands lingered on his shoulder before she reached over to tie back his hair into a disheveled bun on top of his head.

That was when he finally shifted to face her. He rose on his knees and the water level barely brushed at his breasts. He did not seem to mind. The steam was building up around them nice and thick, and Ino could barely see his face. "I am Gaara, nothing more, nothing less. And you are Ino, nothing more, nothing less. And you are having dinner with me after this is over, because I asked you to. From a man to a woman, and not from the Kage of Suna to a kunoichi of the Leaf. _We_ could be nothing less than what we are."

He was being poetic. Ino did not understand why it made her feel fluttery in her gut. She covered up her embarrassment with a smile she doubted he could see. "I just don't understand you."

Gaara leaned back his head and sank back comfortably into the water. "Most people don't."

Ino mimicked him and leaned back into the rocks behind her, and they enjoyed about a few minutes of silence before Ino looked over to him and asked, "Can I shave your legs?"

"Over my dead body," Gaara replied.

Ino returned her gaze to the sky, disappointed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

And they were silent again.

After a while, it was Gaara who broke the silence. "We should get out. It's getting late and everyone must be waiting in the banquet hall."

Ino nodded. "You're right. We should get dressed."

"I can dress myself without having you threatening me?"

Ino shrugged, the hot bath leaving her relaxed and much too lazy to complain. "I bet your hands have been all over my body while I wasn't looking. I don't even care what you do with it now."

"Really? So can I – "

Ino pushed herself to a standing position and grabbed Gaara's forearm, dragging him up with him. "Don't push your luck. If you know what's good for you."

Gaara did not look the least bit threatened, of course. They stepped out of the water and into the cold night air to get dressed in the gazebo, and much to Ino's surprise, Gaara was behaving. He was in his clothes as efficiently as anyone could be. She on the other hand was having trouble with his tunic because Gaara had uncaringly popped majority of its buttons. She was too tired to even care.

Ino threw his towel over his head. "Your hair's long. It would take time to dry. Don't catch a cold."

"Thank you," came Gaara's reply from underneath the towel and he started scrubbing at his head vigorously with it. "It would be easier to dry near the fire back in the chambers prepared for us. We should stop by there and get ready."

Ino could only nod as she gathered the rest of their toiletries into Gaara's wooden bucket and tucked it under her arm. "We have to talk to Naruto about the summit tomorrow."

"Indeed," Gaara said, his head popping out from under the towel, his blond hair a tangled mess on his head. It took everything in Ino's power not to chase him around with a comb.

She led the way towards the sliding bamboo doors that led out of the bath cloister, thoughts of tonight's meal floating about in her head and wondering what the Samurai had prepared for the delegates from the five great nations. She was almost convinced that finally, things were looking up for her.

Until she opened the door and none other than the Third Tsuchikage, Ryoutenbin no Oonoki, in all his very short glory, happened to pass through the hall in front of their cloister in a fluffy orange bathrobe, as if he too had just come out of his bath. He looked just as startled at the sudden opening of their door that he stood petrified in front of Ino, staring up at her with eyes wide as saucers.

Gaara came up from behind her. "Is something the matter?"

And Ino's life was over then and there.

Oonoki's eyes traveled from Ino to Gaara, then back again. Ino slowly slid the door closed in the Tsuchikage's face, then turned to Gaara. "He's an old man. He wouldn't be blabbing about seeing the Kazekage coming out of a bath cloister with a woman, right?"

Gaara's face was solemnly grim. "He never really did like me." He reached out and opened the door again. As expected, Oonoki was nowhere to be found.

* * *

_**A/N: I updated! *dodges flying rocks* **_

_**This chapter is dedicated to El Cierto. Belated happy birthday!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Ryoutenbin no Oonoki was a short man with a big nose, and as the night wore on, Ino found out that he also had a big mouth, especially with the influence of a bit of alcohol.

After their bath, Ino and Gaara had retreated to their respective rooms – Ino in Gaara's room and Gaara into Ino's, to be specific - to avoid any more unnecessary misunderstandings if anyone ever caught them sneaking into the same room. Once they were dressed and ready, Ino proceeded to the banquet hall escorted by Kankurou who had tried ever so desperately to squeeze out whatever information he could get from her about Haruno Sakura. Ino tried to be as stingy as can be, of course. The moment they had reached the banquet hall, she immediately spotted Naruto and Gaara who were engaged in a conversation about something that concerned Konoha's first-class restaurants. Ino suspected it had everything to do with the promise she had made to Gaara about dinner once everything was over.

Ino was about to join them by the window where they were parked with glasses in their hands – thank God Gaara had dressed properly for the occasion, in the purple dress she had packed along for the trip – when Oonoki appeared out of nowhere and started tugging at her maroon tunic.

And she had been stuck with him ever since. It was not hard to act like Gaara; all she had to do was ignore the old man as he talked and followed her around while he babbled about things that only the real Gaara would know.

When she finally realized she couldn't run away from the Tsuchikage forever, she decided to weave through the mingling ninja and samurai in the banquet hall and parked herself near the beverage counter. She had tried to catch Gaara's eye many times all throughout the evening, but it was either Gaara was preoccupied with someone who would strike a conversation with him, or he was just no where to be found.

She had helped herself to a drink and that was when Oonoki said something that nearly made her choke on her tea.

"You seem different today, Gaara-dono," was what he said.

Ino summoned whatever courage she had and cast the old man the sternest look she could muster. "Different, Tsuchikage-sama?"

Oonoki grinned up at him knowingly. "You look a lot less stiff. Not that that's a bad thing, my boy. You were always tense when it came to gatherings like these."

Ino swallowed hard and shifted her eye on the beverage counter, pretending to be busy with her next drink. "Work does that to me."

"It does that to everyone," Oonoki agreed as he stood on tiptoe and eyed the drinks curiously.

Ino filled her glass with more tea and raised it to her lips, taking a long sip.

Oonoki waggled his eyebrows up at her knowingly. "I guess it's good you finally have a lady-friend to keep you sane. You know how we men need to have a method of release once in a while."

Ino spewed tea all over the beverage counter. Several of the shinobi and samurai standing by the walls who were on guard duty were around Ino in an instant. Ino was coughing violently with her cup in her hand while everyone started crowding around her.

"Check the beverages for poisoning!" one samurai cried as he circled around the crowd with his weapon drawn.

"A medic for the Kazekage!" another one shouted from somewhere to her left.

Oonoki was instantly hovering in front of her, a bit amused. "Now, now. There are no enemies here. He's just choking on his tea, like a little boy would. He _is _a little boy after all."

Ino glared at the man evilly, still trying to control her coughs.

The commotion ended before it even began. The beverage counter was wheeled off to change all the drinks Ino had showered with her tea. All the while, Oonoki never left Ino's side, once in a while casting her meaningful glances that Ino didn't like.

When Oonoki gave her one more look, she turned and stared down at him directly. "You have something in your mind. Let's hear it."

Oonoki feigned innocence, his eyes wide as saucers. "What makes you think that, my boy?"

"I'm _not _your boy," Ino snarled before she could control herself.

_I'm not even a boy!_

Oonoki burst out chuckling. "Oh, look at _you! _Is that what that girl did to you? You now answer back to me! To _me_, boy! You usually just ignore me. I like you better now. You seem less boring this way."

Ino bit back the retort that was threatening to burst from her lips and turned on her heel, stalking away briskly. Oonoki leisurely floated after her.

"Why are you following me?" Ino asked when the man hovered a few inches from the floor beside her as she tried to make her escape through the crowd.

"Because you're very intriguing today. You never lose your cool on me, no matter how I poke at you. Now you're all wound up like this. It amuses me," the Tsuchikage said honestly, giving her a toothy grin as he rubbed a finger under his ridiculously big nose.

Ino stopped in her tracks when she reached a window that looked over the white-capped mountains outside. It had begun to snow, and Ino could feel the cold radiating through the windowpane. She shuddered involuntarily, remembering the freezing cave she and Gaara had been trapped in but a few hours ago. She pressed the tips of her fingers against the glass and sighed deeply. Whatever did she do to deserve this?

Oonoki joined her by the window, leaning his small frame against the wall and plucking a bite-sized manju from the plate of a passing waiter. He popped it in his mouth, tilted his head to the side and said, "Well, good for you, I guess. You've always fancied her, right?"

For a moment, Ino didn't even realize what he had just said to her. It took a poke from Oonoki on his thigh to finally squeeze out a reaction from her. She blinked. "What?" she snapped, her eyes swerving towards the old man as if seeing him for the first time.

"She's the Yamanaka daughter who you always moon over at the dinner table when there's a gathering in Konoha, am I right?"

She blinked again, a muscle beneath her left eye twitching for a reason she could not understand. _"Excuse me?"_

Didn't Gaara say earlier that the man hated him? Why was Oonoki talking to her, following her around and acting as if he knew Gaara like a son? And what the heck did he mean by _'mooning over at the dinner table?'_

Oonoki nudged her with his elbow. "Don't be shy. You remember that time when that rascal, Inuzuka, slipped something in your drink, and you were practically singing in your quarters about that Yamanaka beauty – "

"Stop!" Ino interrupted, thrusting a palm towards the Tsuchikage, cutting him off rudely, if not effectively.

"What? _What?"_ Oonoki demanded, startled.

"What are you talking about?" Ino snapped again.

Oonoki's grin was back on his face. "Don't try to deny it. I may have been intoxicated, but I could never forget our talk back then."

Ino started seeing red, then white. She was hearing wrong. She had to be. It just can't be right. Gaara had told her this man didn't like him. Didn't that mean he didn't 'get along' with him? Why was he talking like they were friends? And… _what was Oonoki talking about?_ He sounded as if…

As if…

As if Gaara had liked her for a time now…

That very, very disturbing thought was interrupted when someone had the nerve to clutch the sleeve of her tunic. Ino whipped her head to rain terror upon whoever was brave enough to come near her but was shocked when she ended up staring into big, blue eyes set on a face she was too familiar with.

Gaara had materialized at her side, a look of dread on his small face, blond eyebrows drawn together into a very tight 'V' and for some weird reason he was biting his bottom lip anxiously.

Ino's own green eyes widened in disbelief.

He looked like a mess. Locks of blonde hair were spilling from his high pony tail, as if he had been pulling at it for a while now.

Ino instantly grabbed his forearm, willing the anger away. How dare he come out in public looking like this!

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded loudly. Once she realized that Oonoki was still within earshot – and listening intently to what she was saying – she leaned down to hiss in Gaara's ear. "Where have you been and what on earth have you been doing to my body?"

Gaara swallowed hard and the hand gripping Ino's sleeve tightened. "Someone cornered me in the stairwell."

Ino's face reddened before turning to Oonoki quickly. "Excuse us," she said briskly before dragging Gaara by his arm, not bothering to wait for the Tsuchikage's reply. She wove through the crowded banquet hall, the mingling people stepping aside to keep from getting mauled over by one of the strongest people in the Five Nations. Some of them looked at Gaara in pity. Ino could practically read the expression on their faces…

_That poor girl. Whatever did she do make the Kazekage mad at such a gathering?_

Ino didn't care. She stalked across the room and did not stop until they were outside the deserted hall, where she finally let go of Gaara. She did not give him a chance to open his mouth. "Don't tell me you've been doing some hanky panky while you're in my body. Because if you are, I will kill you."

Gaara rubbed his upper arm gingerly. "I was doing no such thing. He seemed like a friend of yours."

"_He?"_

"He said he wanted to talk. To avoid suspicion, I followed him to the stairwell."

"And what exactly did you do _'in the stairwell'?"_

Gaara paused as if to think. Then, "He threw me against the wall and stuck his tongue in my mouth."

"Eww! What?" Ino shrieked, the red film dropping down in front of her eyes again. She shuddered. "You made out with some random stranger while in my body?"

"It wasn't a random stranger," Gaara said dully. "He seemed very familiar with you."

"Who on earth is this?"

"I don't know his name."

"And you _kissed _him?"

"He kissed _me_," Gaara corrected reproachfully, his hand rubbing his upper arm.

Ino was instantly wracking her brain for any potential guy who would even dare stick his tongue in her mouth. After a few moments, she discovered she didn't even have a single prospect. She was feeling sick.

Gaara was watching her intently. "In fairness, he seemed like he had a bit to drink. It took a good knee in the groin to make him let me go."

Ino swallowed. "You kneed him?" she asked faintly.

And that was when she heard the door of the banquet hall open noisily, letting the sounds of people and music drift out into the hallway. Ino did not know what made her grab Gaara's wrist and pull him to hide behind a metal statue of some unknown person with a blade.

"What's – " Gaara started.

"Shh!" Ino hissed.

They waited in silence as the door of the banquet hall closed, once again cutting off the noise from the inside. After a while, Ino heard footsteps, slow and lazy, echoing though the hall towards their direction.

She nearly gasped when the person stepped into her line of vision from the narrow gap between the wall and the metal statue.

"That's the man," Gaara said in a low voice, almost sounding uninterested. He was pressed against Ino's side, looking small and frail and very, very disheveled beside her.

"Masato?" The words were out of her lips before she could even hold them back. There was no mistaking it. Those dark, wavy locks. Those broad shoulders. That annoyingly perfect smile.

Gaara's eyebrows were climbing his forehead instantly. "_Masato? _Who in the five nations is _Masato_, and why are you in a first-name basis with him?"

Ino, feeling weak, turned to the Kazekage when Masato disappeared from her vision and down the hall, none the wiser.

Ishigaki Masato was a ninja from the Hidden Cloud's Intelligence Division. They had worked together for a couple of months along with Ino's father in developing a new type of communications device, and he had not hesitated to show his interest in her. Of course, Ino didn't even give him the time of day. She was too busy being the perfect kunoichi of the Leaf then, as she was now. But the man was just too confident for his own good. He was the kind of guy who women loved the moment they saw him. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why he liked Ino so much; she didn't even look at him twice.

Ino sighed, eyeing Gaara's rumpled look. "It's a long story. Now will you please fix yourself, sir? You're a mess."

Gaara's eyes narrowed at her instantly. "I was just sexually harassed by a _man_, and you're worried about my appearance?"

"Technically, I'm worried about _my_ appearance, but that's beside the point. A Leaf Kunoichi being cornered in a stairwell by a Cloud Nin doesn't sound good during a peace summit. And you kneeing him in his privates doesn't sound any better."

Gaara did not seem to hear her. "How old is he?"

"What?"

"This Cloud Nin. How old is he?"

"I don't see the relevance of – "

Gaara crossed his arms over his chest.

Ino could only sigh again. "He's thirty-one. Not that it's any of your concern."

"He's too old for you," Gaara declared loudly. "And he does not kiss well."

Ino felt her face heating up all over again. "I can't believe you just said that." Shaking her head in resignation, she stepped out into the hall and hurried away from the iron statue. She stalked away the opposite direction where Masato went. Gaara was fast on her heel.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Away from here. You should, too. You might bump into him again."

Gaara's pace quickened and he fell into step with her. "He smiles too much. You should not trust him."

Ino sniffed as they turned the corner. She had no idea where she was going, but her legs kept moving forward. "Oh, believe me, I know," she said bitterly. Masato had the ego the size of the Land of Wind. He had the strange belief that his good looks and perfect set of teeth were enough to earn him a girlfriend. Had it not been for Inoichi, who was a friend of Masato's father, she wouldn't even be decent enough to acknowledge him.

Gaara, looking quite content with Ino's answer, started smoothing out his hair and retying his ponytail. "He is not a good kisser."

Again, Ino would have done better without that bit of information. She shuddered involuntarily and stopped in her tracks when she heard thundering footsteps coming from behind them. But it was all too late. The moment she had turned on her heel to see what was going on, Gaara had let out a strangled cry as he was swept off his feet into the arms of none other than Ishigaki Masato.

"There you are, Ino-chan!" the man cried happily, at the same time giving Ino a good whiff of the many famous distilleries in his mouth. It was unmistaken that he was drunk. Well, after getting kneed in the groin by a woman, a sober man would normally just give up. She should have known better than underestimate him and his ego.

Gaara's face was frozen in horror as he tried to squirm out of the man's embrace. His face was a good shade of red, and it looked like he was holding back whatever remaining patience he had in him.

Ino found herself petrified for a few seconds before she actually regained her bearings. She had to stop herself from shrieking like a girl. God forbid everyone started spreading rumors about the Kazekage sounding like a… well… a girl.

"Let go of me this instant," Gaara said as menacingly as he could muster. It did not look too convincing, as the side of his face was being conveniently squashed into Masato's broad chest.

"But I just found you!" the Cloud nin slurred, and Ino immediately knew that Gaara was not lying when he said Masato had a bit – or maybe quite a lot – to drink.

The man, in fairness to him, was not a bad person. There had been many times Ino's father had worked together with him ever since the peace treaty between the five nations, and Ino had never really given him much thought except when he was being too cocky about whatever sexual charm he believed he had. He had dropped hints here and there that he was interested in her. Ino was just too busy to even consider picking them up.

And yeah, he was just not her type.

Ino reached out with both hands, pried Gaara free from Masato's clutches and hugged him to her protectively. Masato, for a brief moment, looked absolutely pissed, until he realized that it was the Kazekage who had snatched away his little target.

Masato sobered for a moment until the drunken film fell back over his eyes and he flashed them with that annoying smile of his. "Kazekage-sama. Good evening. What an honor."

Gaara hurriedly hid behind Ino and his arms tightened around Ino's waist. "Tell him to go away."

Ino scowled and she puffed up her chest in the hopes of making herself appear taller than she really was. "You're making him – err, _her _– uncomfortable. Please leave her alone."

Masato shook his head and laughed, waving a hand in front of his face as if to brush away her comment. "Ah, no sir. Don't misunderstand. You see, we know each other. For a while now, actually."

Gaara's grip tightened even more, but he did not say anything.

Ino's hands flew over Gaara's forearms and gave him a squeeze. "She's not interested. She never was. She never will. Now get lost."

Masato blinked twice, trice before once again showing them his collection of perfect teeth. "Oh, don't be fooled, Kazekage-sama. I've heard Konoha kunoichi are good at playing hard to get, but Ino-chan here is the _master _of the game. She wears those frilly little skirts, walks around with her hips swaying from side to side, throwing around winks and fly-away kisses here and there, you can tell she know what she's – _gah!"_

Before Ino knew what happened, Gaara had flown from behind her, pulled back his right fist over his head and let it go in a splendidly swift punch right into Masato's mouth. The Cloud nin flew back several feet away, falling back against a wall and slumping down on the floor lousily. His hands were on his bloody mouth, several of his perfect teeth rolling a few more feet away from him.

"You will not talk about Yamanaka Ino that way," Gaara said, poison dripping from him voice. "Unless you want the Kazekage out of your favor."

Ino nearly had a heart attack. She lunged forward, grabbed Gaara around the neck in a tight choke hold and pulled him away from the fallen man who was now moaning in pain on the floor.

"That's enough now, Yamanaka Ino – _who enjoys referring to herself in the third person perspective_. And weren't you so nice to have knocked some sense into this wonderful Cloud nin – _who happens to be too drunk to remember who had assaulted him in a freaking peace summit_. Aren't you just a lucky, lucky little lady?" she hissed in his ear.

All Gaara did was hug his fist to his stomach and said, "That hurt like he – "

"That's because you knocked his teeth out of his mouth!" Ino interrupted him as she released him from her choke hold. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

Gaara looked up at her with that stoic expression he always had when he didn't care a bit of what had just happened. Perhaps he was just used to doing what he wanted because he could always get away with it. Unfortunately, he was inside a body of someone who was _not _influential enough to be forgiven for punching a ninja from a different hidden village. "I was defending your honor," was what he said.

Ino stared down at him in disbelief. Didn't he realize the possibility of the Cloud and the Leaf's relationship ending because of that one single blow? "I didn't need my honor defended!"

"But he was talking about you like you're some easy-going woman."

Ino snorted. "Do I look like I care? People can think different things about me, and half of them may be wrong, but I couldn't give a damn."

Gaara sniffed, looking away stubbornly. "Well, _I _care. And _I _give a damn."

In resignation, Ino looked down at the Cloud nin who had eventually lost consciousness against the wall. Given, she did think that Masato deserved it. But still… the timing couldn't have been any worse. "Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk."

Gaara followed her gaze. "What do you have in mind?"

Ino shrugged. "Walk away and pretend this never happened?"

Gaara blinked up at her, nodded. "Good idea."

They couldn't get away from there fast enough. And had it not been for all the fuss about stupid, stupid Ishigaki Masato, Ino would have spared herself the time to ponder upon what Ryoutenbin no Oonoki had said earlier about Gaara. But thanks to stupid, stupid Ishigaki Masato, she was not spared the time to worry about something so unbelievably disturbing and instead spent the rest of the night in her room, nursing Gaara's knuckles which bore the Cloud nin's teeth prints.

Could things get any worse than this?


	13. Chapter 13

That night, Ino had a very uncomfortable sleep filled with listless dreams of things that she could vaguely remember had happened before. It did not feel like déjà vu or the like. If anything, it was like watching events of her life through the eyes of someone else. Most of these events circulated around gatherings between the other Hidden villages that were held in the Leaf.

In those scenes flashing though her mind's eye, she could see herself busy with banquet preparations and seating arrangements. Most of those responsibilities were done voluntarily, because Ino preferred the settings and wrap-ups than mingling with guests and representatives. She did not know how her priorities had changed from standing in the spotlight to blending into the background, but after everything that had happened, she had grown out of her childish ways and… well… _grew up_.

She saw herself busy in the many different flashbacks flipping through her subconscious as she slept, and while she had always thought this to be pretty normal, she did not understand why in most of those scenes, she could see in the corner of her eye a tall figure of a man dressed in a maroon tunic and multiple sashes. The figure was either standing with other delegates, never contributing to the conversation but was obviously listening politely to what they were saying. Sometimes, the man would be sitting alone in his seat while the others had started mingling or dancing. He would be watching everything before him with uninterested eyes as he pretended to enjoy his drink, but he would never try to make a move to join the crowd. In other scenes, he would be talking with Naruto about something she couldn't quite hear, but he would talk in a low voice, expression as solemn as it could be.

In all the scenes, the man's face would be obscured from her line of vision, but she knew deep down who he was. That tall physic, those red, flaming locks, that brooding posture.

It was Sabaku no Gaara, and Ino did not understand why she was dreaming about him.

She woke up with a gasp in the darkness of her room, the only light source she had was the nightlight provided somewhere overhead. She could hear the loud howling of the wind from the outside, and the shutters of the only window in the room rattling noisily with every gust. It took a few seconds before the events of the past day came crashing back to her, and she groaned in despair as she turned over in her bed, burying her face into her pillow. Well, technically not her bed, and not her pillow, because she was lying in _Gaara's_ bed, with _Gaara's_ pillow, in the chambers for the representatives of Suna. She had agreed with Gaara that staying in their respective quarters would be best for the situation. And because of this, she had found herself in the inner chambers of the Suna quarters where she could hear Kankurou's loud snoring from behind the sliding door. Temari had never returned for the night, and Ino had a wild hunch that she was anywhere Shikamaru was.

Pushing thoughts of Shikamaru and Temari and whatever they may be doing out of her head, she gave her pillow a couple of punches with the hopes of getting comfortable enough to fall back to sleep, but was interrupted by a strange sound coming from behind her. Her eyes popped open and she raised her head quickly, looking over her shoulder in resignation. She did not know why it did not surprise her to see Gaara sitting down on the edge of the bed, wearing nothing but a very thin, purple sleeping gown. He was looking down at her, those blue eyes practically glowing in the dark.

Ino was too tired to even get mad. Instead, she rolled over in her blankets, propped her head on a hand and stared at him, waiting for his nonsensical reason as to why he was not asleep in his own bed in the Leaf representatives' quarters.

Gaara hitched his legs up onto the bed, hugging his knees to his chest, exposing his thighs.

Ino scowled, grabbed the edge of her blankets and threw it over Gaara's legs. "What do you think you're doing? It's freezing."

Gaara dug his feet under Ino's side, poking her rib cage painfully with his toes. "It's almost morning," he said quietly, wiggling his toes comfortably.

Ino grunted as she shifted around to accommodate Gaara's feet and pressed the side of her face into her pillow, eyeing him lazily with one eye. She did not have the stamina or the patience to deal with Gaara's strangeness right now. "What?" she asked dumbly, holding back a yawn.

"It's almost morning," Gaara repeated.

Ino blinked at him. "The operative word being _'almost'_. Come back later when it's _already _morning."

Gaara stared at her silently.

Ino stared back at him with equal defiance. When he wouldn't say anything, Ino sighed in defeat, pushed herself up into a sitting position, ran a hand through her short red hair and tried her best not to pull at it. "Okay, what do you want from me?"

Gaara opened and closed his mouth several times before saying, "Mornings aren't my best moments."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him in the hopes of deciphering what he was trying to say to her, then, after a few moments of pondering, finally got what he meant. She scowled at him. "You must be forgetting one very tiny fact that I am a _medic nin_. If you think I'm not familiar with the functions of the male anatomy, then I'll have you know that I'm very well aware that nocturnal erections occur naturally during REM sleep." She sneered. "You weren't expecting me to be unaware of _that_, were you?"

Gaara blinked at her in the darkness. "I never doubted your knowledge one bit. I was just wondering if you… well… know how to… _relieve _yourself."

Ino nearly doubled over, eyes bulging. Was this man for real? "So you're not doubting my knowledge, but you're doubting my _skill?"_

Gaara paused, thought for a few seconds before saying, "I'm not sure. I'm not the very least familiar of your… _skills._"

She was going to kill him. He had the nerve to walk in on her beauty sleep just to insult her. She leaned forward, jabbed him on the chest with a finger. "For your information, _Kazekage-sama_, I can do things to your body beyond your imagination that it wouldn't know what hit it," she hissed, then added, "With my eyes closed."

Gaara was suddenly interested. "Really?"

Ino snorted, leaning back again and propping her arms behind her. "You can bet on it."

And then Gaara did something that Ino did not expect he would do. He blushed. The closet pervert _blushed! _And for some weird reason, Ino felt her own face heating up as well.

Gaara swallowed hard. "I look forward to it, then."

Ino choked on her own spit, and she ended up in a violent coughing fit. Gaara was beside her in an instant, rubbing her back gently.

"Are you all right?" he asked, sounding genuinely worried.

Ino was not the least bit fooled. She pushed him back. "Get away from me."

He had the nerve to look hurt. "Why are you angry? I came here because I was worried about you, and not because I was underestimating you, or any of the like."

Ino rubbed her forehead tiredly, unsure of the answer to his question. Why _was _she angry? She was the one who expanded the conversation to begin with. Damn it, Gaara was stirring up emotions in her she didn't even know she was capable of feeling. "I'm sorry. I was never a morning person," she said truthfully. She was always grumpy when woken up ahead of her biological clock.

Gaara's toes were poking at her thigh from under the blankets and she inched away slightly, uncomfortable of the sudden contact.

"How long have you been here?" she asked him after a moment of silence, finally lifting her face from her hand and giving him a long gaze.

Gaara was in return looking at her, too. "A while now."

It was strange; she didn't know how he could be capable of twisting that face to match his personality, but Ino could never have imagined her face could look so… _hard_… just because Gaara was in her body. He was not frowning, nor was he smiling, but the look in those blue eyes of his made Ino want to reach out, pat his head and tell him it was going to be all right.

But there was no freaking way she was going to do it.

Instead, she dropped back down on her pillow, her back to him. "I'm going back to sleep. You should hurry back to your room before someone sees you here dressed in – " she looked over to him and stared at Gaara's bare shoulders. " – dressed in _that._"

Gaara was not amused. "May I remind you, it was _you _who packed this poor excuse of a nightgown when you knew particularly well this is the _Land of Snow._"

She rolled her eyes. "Details, details. Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I'm going back to sleep." She slumped back into bed, pulled the covers up to her chin, and shut her eyes tightly. After a very, _very _long silence, she heard shifting on the bed. She sighed in relief, thinking Gaara was finally going to leave her alone.

But then, this was, of course, Gaara.

Ino's eyes snapped open when she felt lithe arms snake around her waist from behind. A warm body pressed against her back right after, and she felt hot breath against the nape of her neck. She stiffened immediately, her breath catching in her throat.

"Gaara?" she hissed.

"Yes?" Gaara murmured back.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The arms around Ino's waist tightened. "Warming myself up. I'm cold."

Ino felt a vein pop on her forehead. "Go back to your room, light a fire and stay there. You're not supposed to be here."

Gaara shifted, and Ino felt his lips brush her shoulder accidentally. "There is a fire, but Naruto is out with the Raikage since last night and I don't even know where Shikamaru is. The room is freezing."

Ino held back the desire to elbow him away, chase him out of her bed and make sure he never came back, but for some weird reason, she couldn't. Maybe she was just too tired to – _negotiate? Argue? Fight? _– with Gaara at this early a time. Or maybe she really just felt a bit sorry for him. He was, after all, not used to the cold, and given Ino didn't have a single amount of excess fat in her body, she was sure that Gaara was not lying when he said he was cold. Sighing in resignation, Ino rolled over to face him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to her. She tried to convince herself that this would not be happening in the first place if she hadn't been careless with her jutsu. She guessed she owed him this much.

"Are you warm enough, sir?" she asked quietly, resting her chin on top of his head.

He nodded silently, and Ino sighed once more. Maybe she should just go along with whatever he wanted. After all, it would be better if he were right next to him just in case he started getting weird ideas and do some inappropriate things to her body.

After rationalizing with herself, she did not know how or when she had fallen asleep, but she did. Unlike earlier, this was a dreamless, almost peaceful sleep. At times, she found herself waking to Gaara's stirring, at times his breath on her skin. Each time, the room grew brighter bit by bit from the light coming from the window, and as morning came creeping, so did the cold.

She did not know how long they had slept. The last thing she remembered was Gaara snuggling closer to her under the blankets.

And then her peaceful sleep was interrupted by someone banging on the door of their room.

Ino catapulted to a sitting position as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over her head. In the process, she seemed to have knocked Gaara to the floor because when she looked, he was already climbing back up on the bed, blond hair hanging down his face like a curtain.

"Crap, what time is it? We didn't oversleep, did we?" Ino demanded, stumbling out of her blankets, trying very hard to ignore the not so little problem happening in her pants. Goddamn male anatomy! She did not have the time for this! She flung herself towards the antechamber only to discover Kankurou's bed made, but no Kankurou.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath before hurrying back to the inner room. She started rummaging through the rucksack on the floor where Gaara's travel clothes were. She haphazardly pulled an off-white shirt over her head, not really caring that it was rumpled beyond help.

The pounding on the door did not stop, and if anything got even louder.

Gaara, who had successfully mounted the bed once more and was now leisurely scratching his head, watched Ino panic. "Someone's at the door?" he asked.

Ino tried to kill him with her eyes. It did not work. Dammit. She pointed a finger at him. "Hide. Now."

Gaara gestured at the room. "I can just stay here. No one will dare intrude in the chambers of the Kazekage and – "

His words were cut off completely with an explosion coming from the antechamber, and the next thing Ino knew was that they were no longer alone in their room.

Because there, Standing like a menacing dark wall of pure muscle and hair, was the Fourth Raikage, A. And my, he did not look too happy. And much to Ino's horror, he was holding none other than Ishigaki Masato on the scruff of his neck, as if he had been dragged all the way there. He was still missing several of his teeth, Ino realized.

And that was when it all came back to her: Masato cornering Gaara and kissing him, Masato hugging Gaara…

Gaara punching Masato.

Oh, the blood.

Oh, the teeth!

And now the Raikage had come to extract vengeance from them! They had assaulted one of his subordinates! In a peace summit, of all gatherings!

A's angry eyes traveled from Gaara to Ino, then did a double take at Gaara. Gaara blinked at A. Ino flew towards him and threw the blanket over his shoulders.

"Good morning, Raikage," Ino greeted, trying – and failing – at her best Gaara imitation as she straightened quickly to face the man. She had never really had much contact with A of the Cloud even on social gatherings, because she had always thought the man to be angry all the time. She had never seen him laugh before. Ever.

Which was why she nearly fell over when A burst out laughing. He had a very rich, very deep laugh. It scared Ino to death.

"So, it's true, eh?" said A, using the hand that was still holding Masato's shirt to gesture at Ino then at Gaara. "I heard from Oonoki about you, Gaara-dono. So it seems like you've finally made your move. Good on you, son!" When the Raikage realized that he was gesturing with an occupied hand, his laugh was cut short and he shook Masato in front of them like a flag. "This little cretin here, I brought the moment some witnesses reported to me that he just hit on your woman. Do you want him hanged? Flogged? Or worse yet, demoted to Genin? Apologize to the Kazekage and his woman, fool!" A again roughly shook Masato with a vengeance.

The Cloud nin uttered some gibberish that may have been a sincere apology left undecipherable due to missing teeth.

Ino felt all the blood rush to her face, her mind going blank. She did not understand what was going on. Here she thought A was going to revoke their peace treaty, declare war against the Leaf or the Sand, and massacre them both then and there. She was not expecting a congratulations and an apology. She nodded briskly. "No offense taken, Raikage. My…" her cheek twitched. "… My woman and I need to be alone now. If it pleases you."

That had A laughing richly once more. "Bahaha! Of course, of course. Just don't forget the formal summit starts in two hours. And after that, we have to sit for a few drinks, and you can tell me the story of how you finally conquered such lush territory you have been lusting for years now." A swung Masato over his very broad shoulders like a sack of potatoes, gave Ino one final meaningful look, and noisily trudged out of the room like a very happy elephant.

"Oh, I broke down your door, by the way. Bahahaha!" A said from somewhere in the antechamber before he finally left, leaving a very unwelcome draft in their chambers. But the cold was the least of her worried. Right now, she had two things running around in her head.

One, the rumor that was most probably starting to spread to every single representative of the Five Nations that she was Gaara's _'woman'_.

And two, the fact that Gaara had been hiding something from her _'for years now'._

She slowly turned to Gaara, who had been silent through the whole conversation with A. He was now rubbing his eyes sleepily, as if a rampaging Fourth Raikage breaking their door down and congratulating him for conquering lush territory was a normal thing.

"Gaara," Ino said.

Gaara looked up at her, oblivious. "Hn?"

Ino crossed her arms over her chest. "We need to have a talk."

_A very, very, _very _freaking long talk._

* * *

**A/N: I can see the ending now! XD Oh, Gaara. Oh, Ino! I'm so sorry to have put you through all this. It's going to end really soon, don't worry! You don't have to suffer much. XD**


	14. Chapter 14

There had been times – perhaps five or six – when she had personal contact with the Kage of Suna, and those times happened only when she needed to conclude something about her mission in the Hidden Sand, or when he acknowledged her arrival to a summons by his advisors. Each meeting was short, sweet and very professional, leaving Ino the slightest impression about Gaara and whatever personality he might have. This did not mean, however, that she didn't have her own assumptions. Being a Yamanaka, it came somewhat natural to her to assess a person by just looking at him.

Gaara was a person who was used to being alone but never got the grips at handling the loneliness. A man of little words not because he found conversations bothersome, but because he couldn't express himself clearly through words. He was the strongest man in Suna that the people around him tend to forget that he had his own weaknesses as well.

Then again, it did not need a Yamanaka to tell that Sabaku no Gaara was just simply that: _misunderstood_.

But no one could have misunderstood him more than Yamanaka Ino herself. Because right now, said man – inside a woman's body – was sitting in the middle of the bed, half-hanging out of his sleeping robes, looking up at her wistfully as she gaped down at him, slack-jawed.

"What did you just say?" Ino asked under her breath, her body frozen in place as she continued to watch him with wide, dilated eyes.

"I fancy you," Gaara repeated without even batting an eyelash.

Ino felt her face redden even further, her stomach doing unexpected flip-flops as she watched Gaara shift on his place on the bed. One of the shoulders of the purple night gown slipped dangerously down one arm.

She didn't even know how to react to him and his somewhat confession, if one could consider it a confession. _Was _it a confession? It was, wasn't it?

She blinked, shuddered. No, it couldn't possibly have been a confession! Not from this man. Not from the Kage of Suna!

She shook her head, unconsciously taking a step back, away from the bed. "You can't."

Gaara looked up at her owlishly, those big, blue eyes trained on her face skeptically. "Can't what?"

Ino struggled for words, sputtering out nonsense twice before managing to say, "You can't _fancy _me!"

"Why can't I?" he asked curiously, finally realizing he was practically falling out of his clothes. He hitched his sleeve back up his shoulder, only to cause the other sleeve to slip down his other arm.

Why can't he? He was really asking her this question! There were so many reasons she could think of. So many in fact, that she didn't know where to start. She gestured at him as if searching for the right words to say to answer his question. Many popped into mind.

_Because you're the Kazekage._

_Because your fangirls will murder me in my sleep._

_Because there… there are other women better out there…_

Ino shook her head. That train of thought was not going to the right direction. "Because… because it's… unimaginable…" she finished flatly and with the conviction of a fly.

Gaara was not moved. He narrowed his blue eyes up at her. "_What's_ unimaginable? Me liking a woman? Or me liking you?"

Ino instantly backtracked a bit. She did not intend to make it sound like she was insulting him. She, after all, had never heard of Gaara of the Sand… _dating women_. But she had absolutely nothing against it. In fact, it never even crossed her mind once about his love life.

… _until now._

She cursed herself for that last thought, suddenly feeling strange. What did she care about Gaara's _love life_, anyway?

Well, considering that the way he was talking, _she_ was practically _his_ love life at the moment.

She shook her head roughly again. "It's unimaginable that you would… fancy me, sir. And I mean that with all due respect."

Those eyes remained narrowed, and the tightness around Gaara's mouth did not relax at all as he said, "Why? What's so wrong with you that makes you sound as if I've made a mistake in liking you?"

Ino winced. How was it that Gaara could make her words sound like disrespectful comments addressed to him? "There are other women in the Five Nations fit for your… attention, sir."

"There are? I've never noticed. I've only noticed you."

Ino felt her face burst into flames, and she was instantly glad that A had broken their door open to let in the welcome draft seeping into the room. "I'm flattered, sir. Very much. But I'm just me."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Contrary to what you may believe, you're very hard to miss. It doesn't help that you seemed to have ignored all my advances, and for that, it made me even more aware of you. You were either busy, or pretending to be busy. It didn't matter what the setting was; the Leaf, the Sand. You were never sidetracked from your job. And every time I try to make a move, you were always a step ahead of me. Were you doing it on purpose?"

Right now, she wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole, because right now, Gaara was making absolutely no sense by making it sound like she had been playing hard to get _on purpose_.

She did not know what else to do. She dropped down on the side of the bed, her back to Gaara. Right now, she felt like this was one of those very bad dreams that just wouldn't end. She was in a body of a man who had just declared his feelings for her (which had apparently been a while now), the other Kage were spreading weird rumors about them, and her father was going to kill her because of irresponsibility. Her career was over. She should have written it off the moment she had let Gaara save her from that avalanche.

Gaara had inched towards her without her noticing it, and when she looked over to him, Gaara had his chin resting on her shoulder. He was watching her worriedly. It was probably because she hadn't answered his question.

She sighed. "No sir. It wasn't on purpose. I honestly didn't know you… felt that way. Had I known, I… "

"_What? I had what?"_

"You wouldn't have done anything, Ino. I know. I've been watching you for five years. And I've tried to get you to notice. You never did. And now I'm blatantly telling you about it, and you don't even have the decency to believe me."

Oh.

Okay.

Now he was accusing her. She did not have the stamina for this. Normally, she would have been on top of him about his accusations. But for some reason, she was just so tired. She dropped a weary head in a hand. "I can't believe this."

Gaara did not move his head on her shoulder as he talked, and she could feel his chin move as he talked. "I told you back in the cave about the times I tried to catch your attention. I don't understand why you're being this way right now."

Ino remained silent. She, after all, didn't know what to say. When Gaara became impatient, he poked her with a finger.

Ino jumped and scooted away from him. "What?" she demanded.

"Say something," Gaara said, inching towards her.

And that was when Ino felt a bit angry. "What do you want me to say? I came to the Land of Iron to escort Naruto, and the next time I checked I'm in your body and you're telling me you like me! What's a girl supposed to say about that?"

Gaara didn't even bat an eyelash. "Say you'll consider."

Ino backed away from him further, nearly falling over the edge of the bed. "C-c-consider what?"

"Me," Gaara said simply.

"Wha - ? _You!?"_

"Me."

"You!"

"Yes."

"What's there to consider about you?" Ino blurted hysterically.

Gaara scowled. "How rude. I'll have you know I have many aspects one could consider in a man."

Ino felt all the blood that had rushed up her head drain in that very moment. She slapped a hand on her forehead. "No, no, no! I wasn't trying to be rude, sir. I'm certain you have many… _traits_… a woman could be looking for in a man and – "

"Then what's the matter?" he asked seriously.

She did not think she would be able to keep up with this conversation. She hung her head in defeat, then asked, "Why me?"

"Why not?" Gaara countered. "You're pretty, very dedicated to your job. And you're nice."

"You hardly even know me."

"After spending a life-and-death situation with you, and considering we're in each others' bodies, I can say I've found out a lot about you."

"And you think that would be enough?" Ino asked, raising her head to look at Gaara in the eye. She was not surprised when she found him looking back at her with conviction.

"No. But it was enough…" Gaara said, "…to make me want to get to know you even more."

Ino did not know what else to say after that. It was a good thing Naruto took that opportunity to barge into their room, scratching his neck while looking over his shoulder.

Gaara hopped down the bed and gave Naruto a formal nod. "Good morning, Naruto."

Naruto looked from Ino to Gaara, then pointed gingerly towards the antechamber. "You do know someone broke down your door, right?"

Ino, grateful for a reason to change the subject, sighed in relief and hurried over the Naruto. "Naruto, what about the summit? Are you sure it's a good idea that I pretend to be Gaara in this gathering? I don't feel comfortable having to deceive people in a peace summit."

Naruto blinked at her a few times, his expression unreadable. "Well, we can always tell them the truth." He shrugged. "Sure, we have to explain to them that you were, well, you know, careless with your _kekkei genkai_ and, yeah, exchanged bodies with the most powerful man in the Sand. If you don't mind risking your image to the ninja world in front of important dignitaries who you might have to deal with as you grow in your career – oh, wait. You might _not _have a career after they find out that you _intentionally_ used your mind transfer jutsu within the Three Wolves when you were more than aware that it's forbidden to use whatever jutsu while the summit is on-going." Naruto grinned at her boyishly. "So what do you think?"

Ino punched him in the gut before stalking out of the room wordlessly. She could hear Naruto coughing violently behind her, and Gaara saying, "You deserve it."

But it was all behind her now. Getting away from Gaara and Naruto and that goddamned room did wonders to her nerves, and for a split second she actually thought things couldn't get any worse.

That was until the Mizukage, Terumi Mei, cornered her in – ironically – the stairwell.

"Good morning, Mizukage," she greeted politely. She was starting to doubt Gaara's relationships with the other Kage that she felt like she had to be extra careful with this woman.

In return to Ino's greeting, she was surprised when the Mizukage suddenly burst into tears and crushed her to her very bountiful chest.

"Gaara-kun! You did well!" Mei bowled.

Ino tried to push herself off of the woman. "Mizukage-sama, I can't breathe…!"

Mei did not seem to be listening to her, because if anything, she hugged her even tighter. "You do me proud. And to think you've tried your best. Oh, you did your best. Yes you did. _Yes you did!"_

Ino finally managed to pry herself away from Mei and she hurriedly stepped away from her, nearly crashing against a wall in the process. She watched as Mei started wiping at her eyes with a frilly handkerchief. She groaned inwardly. She had a feeling this was about Gaara again. Damn it. For someone she had always thought to be an introvert, it seemed like Gaara had been blabbing to anyone about his apparent feelings for her.

He has feelings for her.

_He has feelings for her…!_

The mere thought of it made her weak in the knees.

"You know I had always supported you, even back then when you were just a teenager and that stubborn Oonoki tried to make a fool of you because you were too young," said Mei dramatically, dabbing the corners of her eyes gently. "But then again, I was always a sucker for good-looking men. And you _are _very good-looking. If I had been ten years younger, why, I would have actually thought we would make a lovely couple."

Ino backed herself against the wall in case the Mizukage tried anything funny. Luckily, it seemed like Mei was too happy for him.

"I remember that night as if it were yesterday. It was a gathering in Konoha. You were never a strong drinker, and that Inuzuka was just a clever prankster. And," Mei sighed wistfully. "And you were just pouring your drunk heart out at us Kage like you've never done before." In a split second, Mei was beside her again and hugging her tightly. "It takes a real man to address his feelings head on. I was so proud. So very proud! And now look at you! You knew what you wanted, and never stopped until you had it."

Ino wanted to die then and there. The only thing that was stopping her from committing suicide was the fact that she was in Gaara's body. She tried to elbow Mei away from her. "Mizukage-sama, please. Let me go."

"Oh, of course, of course. We wouldn't want to give your little lady any reasons to be jealous, right? I mean, I may be over a decade your senior, but I am still a woman." Mei giggled at what she just said, as if the thought of her being a woman was something to giggle about. She covered her mouth demurely with a hand as she leaned in closer to Ino. "You have to tell me all the juicy details on how you wooed her! I am just _dying _to know!"

The muscle under Ino's left eye twitched. This was not turning out to be a good day. But then again, was she expecting that it would be? She pushed past the Mizukage. "That's a secret between Ino and me."

"O-ho-ho! But it's no longer a secret that both of you have been very intimate since last night. Oonoki-san had witnessed you coming out of a bath cloister together, and A-san had just told me about finding you in the same roo – "

"I get what you are trying to say, Mei-san," Ino interrupted, feeling as if her head was going to explode from too much blood rushing up to her brain. "Please don't say any more…"

Mei lowered her hand to her chest, and the naughty smile on her lips was gone, replaced by a sincere smile. "You don't have to be embarrassed. Good things come to those who wait, and what could be better than the woman that has caught your attention for some time now?"

She was embarrassing her. She didn't even know what else to say. So instead of getting mad, she forced herself to smile and say, "Thank you."

The naughty grin was back on Mei's lips and she chuckled happily as she reached out and ruffled Ino's red hair. "Ah, youth! What I would give to return to my twenties. But then again, I'm still not giving up on my own love life." She winked at Ino. "But then again, that would be another story." With that, the Mizukage gave Ino one final wave before turning on her heel and sashaying away from her down the stairwell.

Ino blinked at the woman's back as she disappeared from her line of sight, and she let out a deep breath once she was finally alone. Now that she had finally confirmed that Gaara had blabbed about his feelings for her, she was beginning to wonder about one very important thing: While the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage and the Raikage had confronted her about it, what on earth was the _Hokage_ doing?

And that was when it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Ino gritted her teeth angrily and the first thing that popped into her mind was: "Naruto. I'm going to kill you… slowly."

* * *

**A/N: Looks like someone's gonna get it. And awww, Gaara... XD**


	15. Chapter 15

Of course Ino wasn't really _serious_ when she thought of killing Uzumaki Naruto. No, that would be a shame; he may be an idiot who gloried on other people's misfortunes, but he was still a healthy human male with functioning organs that could be donated in the name of medical ninjutsu. Surely she could forgive him if he donated his liver. Or maybe an eye or two.

Unfortunately for her, even before she could present him her ultimatum not a few minutes after she had parted ways with the Mizukage, she was immediately located by Temari, looking absolutely serious and garbed in her formal Wind country attire, plus a very warm-looking muffler that suspiciously looked like what Shikamaru was wearing yesterday.

"There you are," Temari said crisply.

Ino scowled at Temari when she hooked her arm around Ino's. "I should say the same for _you_. Where have you been all night?"

Temari flashed her a one-sided grin as she dragged her down a deserted corridor. "Wouldn't you want to know?"

Ino's scowl deepened. "Actually, no. I don't think my stomach can handle it."

The grin spread on Temari's face. "Ah, and here we have the pot calling the kettle black." She gave Ino a pointed look as she continued to lead her down the corridor.

Ino had no idea what she was talking about. She shrugged her hold from her arm and stopped dead on her tracks, looking at Temari lividly. "What are you talking about? And where are you planning to take me?" Whatever Temari was up to this early in the morning, she did not have the time or the stamina for it. Right now, there was nothing more important than getting her hands on Naruto and shaking the truth about Gaara from him. She didn't even know what she was going to accomplish from that. After all, she already knew about ninety-five percent of the story from Gaara himself; Gaara liked her. He had liked her for quite some time now. And he wanted her to 'consider' him. Consider what, dammit! What did the stupid, stupid Kazekage want her to do?

Temari crossed her arms over her stomach, that knowing grin still swimming around her face like a happy little goldfish in a bowl. "I overheard the other Kage talking about it in the banquet hall over breakfast not a few minutes ago." She bared her teeth into a malicious smile. "You slept with Gaara last night, didn't you?"

This did not amuse Ino. She mimicked Temari by crossing her own arms over her chest. "I didn't _sleep_ with Gaara."

"The Raikage says otherwise, though."

"Well, he's gotten it all wrong."

Temari blinked, looking unconvinced. "So… A-sama seeing you in the same room with Gaara half-naked was _wrong?"_

Ino felt a bit faint as she remembered the specific scene of that morning with Gaara sprawled on the bed with his night gown practically falling off of him. She should have known better than show that sliver of weakness around Temari. The woman practically pounced on her, grabbing her by the arm and eagerly pulling her down to her height.

"You _did _sleep together!" she hissed excitedly, her free hand grabbing a handful of Ino's short red hair and tugging hard.

"Ow! Will you quit it! We didn't sleep together. We just… er… well… "

Temari gave Ino's hair one more tug. "What? What?"

Ino yanked her head from Temari's grip and angrily shrugged her off. "Get off me, will you?" She scuttled as far away as she could from the woman, pressing her back against a cold stone column.

"Not until you tell me the answer to the ever-mysterious question that plagues every single woman in the world every time they sleep with a man," said Temari as she gave Ino a twinkling gaze.

Ino stared back at her silently for a full minute before asking, "What freaking question?"

And that was when Temari started giggling and blushing. It made Ino's skin crawl. Temari blushing and giggling girlishly did not suit her. She had known the woman since they were genin, and Ino had always had the image of Temari as the hard fighter imprinted at the back of her brain. Seeing her holding her stomach with one hand while she tried to hide her mouth with the other was quite unnerving.

Temari was beside her in an instant, one arm swinging over Ino's neck into a tight choke hold. "What question, she asks. As if you've never wondered about it at least once in your life."

Ino coughed violently as she tried to pry her hold on her neck. "Dammit, Temari! You're hurting me!" She hadn't even realized that Gaara's body was this tall until she had Temari practically hanging down her neck.

Temari sneered at her, pressing her face closer to hers. "So, how does being the _'one thrusting it in' _compare to the _'one being thrust into'_?"

For a moment, Ino actually stopped struggling. She frowned at Temari. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Temari's blush deepened. "Sex, Ino. Sex! Does the giving end get more pleasure than the receiving end?"

Ino nearly lost her balance, and she felt whatever respect she had for Temari flew out the window. Was she for real? She successfully pried Temari's choke hold from around her neck and shoved her away. "You're asking me how it feels to put a penis into a vagina?" she asked incredulously, feeling sick.

Temari nodded excitedly.

Ino bared her teeth at her. "Read my lips. _I. Did. Not. Sleep. With. Your. Brother! _I don't know if sex brings more pleasure to a man or a woman, and I don't intend on taking advantage of this situation to find out. Now can you please stop harassing me?"

Temari was evidently disappointed. "But this is the opportunity of a lifetime!"

Ino was not amused, and if anything could not believe Temari. "Could it be possible that you've completely deducted from this equation that the body I am in is your _brother's?_ Show some prudence."

Temari did not look at all disturbed. Instead, she said something that nearly made Ino double over in shock. "Prudence? I swear, I had thought he'd made a move on you already. Of course, you two suddenly interchanging bodies was a big hitch to the plan, but what's – "

"Stop," Ino cut her off curtly, raising a hand in front of her in emphasis. "What did you just say?"

Temari opened her mouth, blinked, thought for a second, then let one word escape her lips, "Shit."

Ino was not about to back down now. She shook her head, laughing mirthlessly. "Wait a minute. For a while there, I thought I heard you say something about a _'plan'_. _What plan?_"

Temari tried to pin her gaze at anything and everything but her. She scratched the side of her neck nervously. "What plan?"

"_That's what I want to know,"_ Ino seethed between her teeth,

"There's no plan," Temari insisted, looking more and more uncomfortable under Ino's gaze.

Ino did not believe her one bit. The Sand kunoichi had let it slip, and she was not about to let it go. All the while, she had been blaming circumstance on her bad luck, and here Temari had practically blurted out – by accident – that they had been manipulating her throughout this whole disaster of a summit! She bore down on Temari, who cowered a bit as she backed against a wall. "You will tell me what you know, and you will tell me _now_."

"All right, sheesh! Calm down," Temari crooned as she placed both her hands on Ino's shoulders to push her back. "It was just something we've realized for a while now. As you can see, almost everyone knows about Gaara's feelings for you."

"Except for me," Ino spat, suddenly feeling a bit mad at the turn of events. What was it with these people that they had to conspire against her for something Gaara had blurted out while he was drunk a few years back? Was this all Gaara's idea?

As if reading her mind, Temari shook her head instantly. "Just so you know, Ino, Gaara doesn't know about this. Everything was my and Kankurou's idea. We asked Naruto to pitch in. That's all."

As if that made things better. "So what, you stage an avalanche to get me and Gaara trapped inside an underground cave where I nearly got eaten by slimy, smelly cave-dwelling slugs?"

Temari shook her head. "That avalanche was a coincidence as well. The only thing we had planned was to get you to come here, make sure you and Gaara had some direct contact. Haruno Sakura agreed to give up her place as escort so you could come instead."

Ino could not believe this. Her best friend – the same one she thought she could trust with her life – had just betrayed her to matchmakers who had given her more than a life's worth of misfortune. She felt her hands shake and she clenched them into fists. The only consolation she had was the fact that Gaara was not guilty for anything that had happened. If anything, wasn't Gaara also a victim here?

She thought for a minute, then shook the thought out of her head. No, Gaara was as guilty for making her miserable about this whole ordeal, blabbering about his feelings to the Kage of other Hidden Villages as if it were nothing. And now, she was caught in a gossip that couldn't possibly be corrected by simply telling the truth.

Temari was watching her gloomily. "Is Gaara so repulsive that you wouldn't even give him a chance?" she asked curiously.

Ino's head shot up instantly, and she opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to answer her. _Repulsive?_ She had never even so much as _thought _him being so. It had been but several hours that they had spent together under that cave, and aside from the fact that she thought Gaara to be a bit on the weird side, she had thought him to be honest, caring and endearingly sincere. And he liked her.

So what the hell was the problem?

Temari sighed, rubbing her forehead thoughtfully. "Look, I know that it isn't actually our business, and I know that it isn't something I should be saying, but… is it so unimaginable to consider, you know, _being _with him?"

This conversation was getting out of control. Who said anything about _being with him?_ Not only was it unimaginable; it was highly, plainly, utterly improbable! What did Temari want with her, anyway? Did she want her to say _'Yeah, I'll go out with him, because, like, everyone wants us to,'_ even when it was something that hadn't so much as _crossed_ her mind? Ugh, there were too many things on her mind right now, and a man was just not among them. Men were too time-consuming. She had spent majority of her childhood pining after a boy who thought very little of her, and she had sacrificed her friends, her reputation and her pride for him. She was not about to make the same mistake again. And not with the Kazekage of all people! What did everyone take her for?

"Why are you guys so fixated on us, anyway?" Ino asked, suddenly feeling very, very tired. "Gaara and I hardly know each other. For the past years, aside from my little missions to the Sand, he hasn't so much as said 'boo' to me on occasions that don't include anything concerning my mission. And then he suddenly tells me he _'fancies'_ me? And here I find all the people around him – except for _me_, of course – actually know about his feelings and are scheming behind our backs."

"Hey, it's not our fault that you were too busy and too much of a prude to notice his interest in you. And to think he hasn't actually been subtle with his hints. I mean, honestly! Late night picnic invitations to watch a meteor shower in the desert? Expensive wine delivered at your doorstep every night you had to stay in the Sand? Come on! Any other girl would have thrown herself at his feet!"

Ino blinked. "What, you mean those bottles of wine were from him?"

"I rest my case," Temari said, throwing up her arms in frustration.

"But I didn't know!" Ino protested.

"And you didn't even wonder about why he would ask you the next day if you enjoyed the wine?"

Ino practically choked on her own spit. "I thought it was some form of present given to any one of your guests who stayed the night…"

"Who on their right mind would spend an insane amount of money on a single guest on a mission and shower her with expensive wine imported from the farthest desert colony of the Land of Wind?" Temari muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

Ino swallowed hard. "But… " she said, feeling sweat pop on her forehead. Now that she thought of it, there had been… _instances_. But then again, she had already heard that first-hand from Gaara when they were in that underground tunnel. He had confessed he had tried many times asking her out through different people, but she had refused each opportunity then.

She gestured at Temari. "I agreed to go out to dinner once we're back in our own bodies," she said, desperate to end the conversation.

Instead of being satisfied, Temari propped her fists on her hips, leaning her weight on one leg. "Well, after all you guys have been through, it's the least you can do."

Ino's jaw dropped open in disbelief. "I was expecting a totally different reaction from you. I thought you would be happy."

"For what? Something you should have done years ago?"

She was starting to get annoyed with Temari. Why was she making it sound like it was her fault that she didn't get to notice Gaara's advances? It wasn't her fault that she had different priorities. And it wasn't as if she ignored Gaara on purpose.

Temari was beside her once again, but instead of grabbing her in a choke hold or a death grip, she placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed. "He isn't asking you to marry him, Ino. He's just asking for a _chance_. Is that too much to ask?"

And for some weird reason, Ino found herself rolling that question in her head. What Temari said was right. There was nothing wrong with giving Gaara a chance. Screw that; she had already promised Gaara dinner. Wasn't that equivalent to a 'chance'?

"Ugh, fine!" Ino said finally, throwing her head back and looked up at the ceiling in surrender. "A chance, right? You want me to consider him, right? All right, I'll consider!"

And of course, given her luck, Gaara had to suddenly walk in on them in that deserted corridor just in time for him to hear what she had just said.

"Really?" he asked, blue eyes wide with surprise.

Ino froze in place, and she barely felt Temari let go of her shoulder to slither a few feet away from her. She slowly eyed Gaara who was standing stiffly beside a pillar. Ino could see he had changed out of that very revealing night gown and into more modest clothing Ino had brought along with her to the Land of Iron. The many scarves – ones that don't belong to Ino at all – were twirled around Gaara's neck and shoulders.

"You will consider, then?" Gaara reiterated, stepping forward and looking very much shocked at what he had just heard.

Ino swallowed hard. He had heard. There was no turning back now. She nodded. "Err… well… yes. Sure. I mean, it can't be that bad, right? I mean… dinner dates, lunch dates? What else?"

Gaara took another step towards her, blinking owlishly. "It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be. It won't have to come first over your job, or your friends, or your village."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him dubiously. Usually, these relationships – those trial-and-error ones – took more time than they should, and a lot of stressful thinking. She had just given Gaara permission to court her.

She was doomed.

_Dooooomed. _

She nearly jumped when Gaara suddenly took her hand. She looked down at him. He was smiling a small smile at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Thank you," was his reply, and he let go of her hand almost instantly.

Ino felt her hand tingle slightly, and she unconsciously wiped it on her pant leg. "Uh… you're… welcome…?"

Then, as if in a sudden change of mood, Gaara stood straighter, arms over his chest. It was the same stance he always made when making a speech.

The last thing Ino expected was exactly that; a speech.

"Once we are back in our own bodies, I shall start courting you properly. You will not regret giving me this chance. I have many things to offer. I have a lot of money and influence that even your parents will be more than happy to entrust you to me. And I am capable of protecting you with my life if I have to."

Ino blinked at him and remained silent for approximately five seconds before laughing nervously. "For a second there, I almost believed you were serious. I mean, it's not as if we're getting _married_ or whatever."

Gaara's left eye twitched.

Ino blinked again. "Right?"

Gaara turned on his heel and stalked down the hallway, those many scarves trailing behind him, his long blond ponytail swishing from side to side.

Ino didn't even have the chance to protest as one word echoed through her head over and over again.

_Doomed. Doomed. Doomed. _

* * *

_A/N: Ah finally managed to update. XD I think they're ready to return to their bodies now, don't you?  
_


	16. Chapter 16

Ino did not want to take any more bullshit. _From anyone_. Discovering that all her misfortune had been planned, schemed and plotted as if she were some experiment made her mad. No, it made her more than mad. It made her _furious_. But what was so strange about Yamanaka Ino, was that fury brought her a different kind of piece of mind. She had tried her very best for the past years to learn to control her anger. She had always been very hot-headed when she was young, and being hot-headed resulted to things she would end up regretting after. And Ino had enough of regret. Anger, for Ino, was a warning for her to sit back and try to look at the bigger picture.

That was why she had kept herself in check because the summit came first before her feelings.

And so Ino had behaved like a good little Kazekage and sat in the meeting, all the while thoughts of Gaara and his feelings for her running around in her head like a hyper-active hamster on its wheel. Lucky for her, the meeting didn't directly involve the Kage in the meeting. All the motions their respective villages made were written in scrolls beforehand, only to be read by the Kage's representatives. Temari had taken care of everything for her. All she had to do was sit on her chair. She didn't even have to try too hard to act like Gaara; all she had to do was sit back and cross her arms over her chest and pretend to listen. While she did try to shut out everything, she couldn't help but catch the meaningful glances the other Kage threw her way after looking over at Gaara, who was sitting on Naruto's left-hand side, rod-straight, those blue eyes of his downcast and oblivious of the people around him.

As expected, the summit started with speeches and formalities about things concerning their villages, followed by propositions for trade with regard to crops, weaponry and services. Even without being told about it, she knew that the Kage were as bored as hell listening to the drawling of each of their representatives. Somewhere in between the propositions, they were allowed a fifteen-minute break. Ino took the opportunity to go over to Naruto who was helping himself to a cup of tea on the long table prepared for the delegates in the antechamber right outside the meeting room.

"This meeting is killing me. Is this the only thing you guys ever do every year?" Ino asked him grumpily after making sure no one was within earshot.

Naruto took a tentative sip of his tea, shrugged and looked around the room to observe the people mingling around them. "Yep. Are you disappointed?"

Ino frowned. It was not as if she was _'disappointed'_. To be honest, she didn't really have the time to expect anything from this summit. She just wanted to get it over and done with, go home, get her body back and forget this thing ever happened in the first place. Of course, that was just too good to be true. Because she knew that after all this, Gaara had other plans. She didn't even know how he planned to pull it off, but she was dreading it. Admittedly, she was starting to get a bit curious about what he had in mind. He had told her he was going to _'court her properly'_. Yamanaka Ino had never been courted in her whole damn life.

Naruto beamed at her, canines flashing proudly. "The meeting proper lasts for a good hour and a half, but it's tradition to gather a day before the summit began. You know why?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at him, somehow understanding what he was trying to say. "It's a good excuse to avoid work for a couple of days?"

Naruto laughed loudly, refilling his tea cup. "You got that right. Or to put it differently, it's become a tradition to catch up on each other. You can tell how the other Kage treat Gaara. All the Five Kage have become somewhat friends, and no treaty in the world could be better than sincere friendship. This meeting is just a form of formality. The true bonding happens during banquets and late-night drinking sessions."

Ino couldn't help but scowl at that last bit of information. Those late-night drinking sessions had been the cause of everything that was happening to her right now. How much does Gaara normally drink during those sessions, anyway?

_Apparently, too much. _

She closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten before sighing and turning back to Naruto. "You knew what Gaara felt about me." It was not a question. It sounded strangely like an accusation.

Naruto's grin didn't leave his face as he gave Ino an insolent wink. "Well, he _is _somewhat of a best friend to me. I'd be heartbroken if I didn't."

Ino was not expecting a straight-out admission from this man. She was actually a bit disappointed to find out that he wasn't even going to try to deny it. "You know what's ironic about all this?"

"That you're the only one who didn't know about it?" Naruto asked.

Ino grimaced. "Yeah. That's exactly it."

Naruto looked down at his cup as he let out a low whistle. "It's not as if he was keeping it a secret from you, Ino. If you ask me, I say he was pretty obvious about it."

Ino took to chewing the inside of her cheek, feeling horrible. She knew that Naruto was telling the truth. But then again, it wasn't her fault that she was…

Was what? Dense? Slow? Too caught up on her career to notice a hot man who fancied her?

She just didn't get it.

"It was about five years ago, I think," Naruto suddenly said as he leaned his hip against the side of the table, abandoning his cup. "It was the fourth year anniversary of the Leaf-Sand Treaty, and you were in charge of the venue for that night. Do you remember?"

Despite herself, Ino couldn't help but give him a rueful smile. "How can I forget? I was up to my knees with flowers that day because you said you wanted everything to be _'pretty'_. I felt like I was planning a wedding more than a Treaty celebration."

"He loved them, you know."

"Eh?"

"Gaara. He loved them. I guess you'd have thought that his feelings came out of nowhere, but you're wrong. He asked about you that day, about the person who was responsible for making the place look… what were his exact words again? Ah, yeah: _'the person who was responsible for making the place look like it was full of life.'_ So I pointed you out."

Ino couldn't help but feel her face heating up at the compliment. She had always been proud of her handiwork when it came to flowers, and although she was not good at accepting compliments when it came to her job, she was more than happy to accept compliments when it came to her hobby. She lowered her eyes to the floor, imagining in her head how Gaara had seen her that day. She had always thought that Gaara had generated his feelings out of thin air. This was actually the first time she let herself consider the possibility that there could be a history behind it all. "So… What happened?"

"Oh, weren't you a sight then, your hair like a bird's nest, running around with flowers and twigs stuck in your clothes. Gaara was smitten," Naruto said, smiling at her sincerely. "Believe me, this has never happened before with him. Don't ask me why it had to be you. It's just, well, _you_. And the rest is history."

The way Naruto wrapped the explanation up made her blush even more. She rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand. "This is all too strange to me."

"Don't you like him?" asked Naruto.

Ino gave him a pointed look.

Naruto laughed again. "Okay, okay. Let me rephrase the question: Don't you even see the slightest possibility of the two of you together? He's really a nice guy, you know."

"I know he's a nice guy. I wouldn't have been this lenient with him if he weren't. It's just… "

"What?" Naruto asked.

Ino thought for a moment, waved a hand in front of her as if to brush the moment away. "Aw, you know what I mean."

Naruto was instantly alert as he leaned closer to Ino. "No, actually I _don't _know. Explain it to me."

Ino snorted. "You want me to explain to you how I find this all bothersome, and why I think men and relationships that come along with them are some things I can't maintain when I'm too centered on my own self? Oh, let me see. Where to start?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sarcasm doesn't suit you. Come on. What is it that makes you think this isn't gonna work?"

Ino frowned as she eyed Naruto steadily. She wasn't really sure why Naruto was so intent on digging up her way of living, but she couldn't resist those blue eyes of his as he encouragingly nodded at her. She signed. "Naruto, look. You and I, we were together way back in the Academy days, right?"

"Oh, how could I forget? You were hard to ignore, you and Sakura. Since, you know, you were always at each others' throats."

Ino jumped slightly and clapped her hands together. "Ah, there we go. That's a perfect example why I find this too bothersome!"

Naruto blinked a few times. "What? You think you're going to have to fight over Gaara with your best friend?"

Ino reached out, grabbed Naruto's ear and pulled mercilessly.

"Owowowow! I'm sorry!" Naruto cried.

Ino let go, crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed. "You know what I mean, dammit."

Naruto took to nursing his aching ear, rubbing it with a hand gingerly. "You were young then. You're different now. I'm sure you can handle a man or two in your life, even if you're into your career. I mean, Gaara's going to be busy most of the time, too. It's not as if he's going to monopolize your every waking moment. And besides, your father likes him."

Ino opened her mouth to spit out a retort, but was easily silenced when what Naruto had just said sank into her brain. She snapped her mouth shut, ground her teeth together before asking, "What about my father?"

Naruto leaned back on the table again, staring out into the crowd as they started to one by one drift back into the meeting room. "The same day you caught Gaara's attention five years ago, Inoichi-san happened to be stationed at the same table with him. They got along great, and your dad's been in discreet liaisons with Suna concerning a form of direct communication between our villages ever since. Didn't you know?"

Ino had to clench her hands into fists to keep from ripping her hair out. "Oh, of course I didn't know. It's not as if I know _anything _about _anything!" _she cried.

Naruto pushed himself up and casually reached into his back pocket, retrieving a crumpled envelope and handing it over to Ino. "Speaking of your father, I've already contacted him about your predicament the moment we found you guys in that underground tunnel. He even bothered to send a reply. Here."

Ino stared at the envelope in horror before snatching it violently from Naruto's hand.

Naruto took that opportunity to make his escape, waving at her before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "See you in the meeting hall, _Gaara,"_ he said, snickering.

Ino watched as the Hokage slipped into the double doors leading to the meeting room before returning her gaze back down at the envelope in her hands. Without wasting another second, she tore at it with a vengeance and immediately unfolded the wrinkled letter inside it.

It was her father's handwriting, alright. Her fingers shook as she read the letter silently.

_Dear Ino, _

_Before anything else, how goes your very first trip to the Land of Iron? I've been there but a few times and it's freezing. I heard that because of some drastic climate changes, avalanches occur frequently as of late. Be careful, tulip._

_But of course, I should have said this to you before you left home for your trip, especially since you've already been retrieved by Naruto from one of those avalanches I should have told you about. By the way, you forgot your tinderbox in your room. Not that I've been snooping in your room or anything. Your mother told me not to. I just happen to have caught a glimpse of your tinderbox sitting on your bed from your slightly open bedroom door. You must really stop getting mad at me for snooping. After all, you still live under my roof. Not that I'm telling you you're freeloading off of us or anything like that. Because that never crossed my mind even once. But of course, if you ever find a man who's willing to take you out of my care, then that would be a different story. _

_Speaking of men, Naruto tells me you've been messing with a jutsu your old man still hasn't taught you, and now you're stuck in the Kazekage's body? Knowing you and your sense of responsibility, you'd be beating yourself over the head with it. Well, if it's going to be of any consolation, at least you're stuck in a good-looking man's body, right? _

_Anyway, hurry home, tulip. Daddy will fix everything up for you. _

_Love,_

_Dad_

Ino felt her nostrils flare in absolute fury as she crumpled the letter into a ball. What kind of letter was this?! She couldn't even believe her father could take this so lightly. Taking a deep breath, she straightened out the letter again, skimmed through the words and nearly snarled at it when she reached the final sentences. Her dad had allotted but a _fourth_ of his letter to address her problem! And what about him snooping in her room?!

She crumpled the letter once more, then stuffed it into her pocket. She nearly jumped back when she found Gaara a foot away in front of her, looking up at her with a very amused expression on his face.

"You're agitated," he observed as his blue eyes darted from Ino's face to the hand stuffed inside her pocket. "Was that a letter from your father?"

Ino froze. She took a step towards him. "How on earth did you know that?"

Gaara raised his hand up between them. Between his fingers was a small piece of rolled up parchment. "Because I got one, too."

There was no need for further explanation. Ino snatched the parchment from Gaara without asking for permission whatsoever, unrolled the offending thing with unsteady hands, then began to read. The letter was not long, but it was very disturbing.

_Dear Gaara-kun,_

_It's been a while. I heard everything from Naruto. I'm sorry for everything that my daughter has caused you. Rest assured, everything will be compensated. I shall be waiting here in the Leaf for your arrival._

_Yamanaka Inoichi_

_P.S. Once everything is dealt with, will you be so kind as to take her as your wife? She is stubborn, proud and very, very high-maintenance, but she is kind, loyal and dedicated. Surely, you would consider the wishes of an old man? _

_P.P.S. Just kidding. _

Ino nearly had a heart attack. She could feel her heart palpitating violently as she lowered the parchment from her face. This was not happening to her. Suddenly, all she had ever believed in had disintegrated, where even her own father seemed to be scheming against her.

Gaara plucked the parchment back, folded it twice before slipping it safely into one of the pockets of his flak jacket. He gestured at the double-doors of the meeting room. "We should go."

Ino could only nod weakly and she followed Gaara as he led the way across the antechamber. It wasn't until they had taken a few steps that Gaara looked over his shoulder and asked, "Can you show me what your father wrote to you?"

Ino's fist tightened around the crumpled letter in her pocket. "Over my festering corpse."

* * *

_A/N: They're going back to their own bodies next chapter. Promise! XD_


	17. Chapter 17

The summit ended with as much formalities and boring speeches as it had started, and by the time everything was done, Ino had found her back aching badly from sitting too long. When the meeting officially was drawn into a close and all the parties present in the stronghold had finished packing for their trips back to their own respective Villages, Ino had taken to getting her things – or rather, _Gaara's_ things –

ready as well. It was strange having to pack the man's scrolls and a number of articles of clothing. She had to refold everything he had stuffed carelessly inside his rucksack. But then again, what can she expect from a man? She will have to do something about that when…

When what?

When she ever decided to take up his offer?

She had blushed at the thought, but immediately brushed it aside as she wrapped up everything Gaara owned as fast as she could. She tried to ignore the possibility that Gaara was messing with her belongings in return. She hoped to God he wasn't being naughty with her underwear.

Another unbearable obstacle she had to go though before their departure was the goodbyes she had to endure from the other Kage. The Raikage had nearly pummeled her to the ground by pounding on her shoulders good-naturedly, once again apologizing for the Masato incident. The Tsuchikage, on the other hand, had tried to give her advice on how to make a woman happy in bed. She had pretended to listen politely, all the while trying her best not to feel sick.

The Mizukage, much to her surprise, did not do anything embarrassing, but had told her something that had her thinking deeply all the way back to Konoha.

"_You were always very clumsy in the things you want to do when it came to this woman, but it seems you've finally managed to get your feelings through and your efforts recognized. Don't mess up, alright, Gaara-kun?"_

Ino had been shaken. She couldn't even fathom how Gaara could ever be 'clumsy' about anything, but the way the Mizukage had talked to her, it seemed like a very big deal. Had Gaara really been that serious about all this?

_Stupid question._

The thought had haunted her as they made their slow but sure way back to Konoha. The Sand's party traveled with them, of course, all the while Gaara had stayed beside Naruto, engrossed in a fluid conversation regarding Suna's olive and cotton trade. Not once did Gaara glance at her all throughout their journey. Kankurou had tried several times to engage her in conversation, but she had been too preoccupied to keep up with him. On some occasions, even Shikamaru and Temari tried to talk to her about something, but she never really fully understood much of what they were asking her. By the time they had broken from the freezing tundra of the Land of Iron and the Three Wolves was but a silhouette in the horizon, Ino felt listless and too caught up in her own thoughts to even realize they had already made it to the huge gates of the Leaf.

Naruto took off his Hokage hat when someone jumped out from behind the customs desk at the foot of the gates.

"Naruto-nii!" cried Konohamaru as he rushed over to welcome them. Gaara stepped away from Naruto when Konohamaru reached out and gave Naruto a resounding high-five.

"I didn't know you're on gate duty today," Naruto mused as he gave the boy an appraising look.

Konohamaru grinned at him. "Udon had an emergency meeting with Chouji-nii on the winter preparations so I had to fill in for him today." He turned to Gaara. "The seeds you ordered from the Grass came earlier, Ino-nee. I put them in front of your flower shop."

Gaara glanced at Naruto for help, then returned his gaze back to the younger boy. "Uh… thank you…"

Konohamaru frowned up at him. "You all right, Ino-nee?"

Shikamaru took the chance to step between them. "This isn't the time. We have guests." He jerked his head towards Ino, Kankurou and Temari. "The Kazekage and his party are with us."

Konohamaru's eyes widened at Ino and he instantly lowered his head into a bow. "Kazekage-sama."

Ino couldn't help but raise her non-existent eyebrows at the boy. Konohamaru had grown a lot over the years and for some reason matured even more than she thought him capable of doing. Almost as tall as Naruto himself, the boy had lost his arrogant attitude and had opted to doing even the lowliest tasks. He had started to believe that in order to be a good Hokage, one had to understand even the lowest-ranking of ninja. He did D rank missions without a single complaint, and did it happily at that. The boy was still set on preceding Naruto as Hokage when he retired. It was strange; humility suited him.

Ino gave him a slight nod, but did not trust herself in saying anything.

Konohamaru gestured through the gates. "If you'd informed us beforehand, we could have arranged a welcoming party."

"That would not be necessary," Gaara suddenly said.

Konohamaru blinked at him owlishly. "Ino-nee?"

Ino's eyes widened, then she cleared her throat loudly. "That won't be necessary," she repeated almost regally. "There is no need for formalities between friends."

Konohamaru evidently brightened.

Naruto replaced his Hokage hat back on his head. "It's a personal visit this time." He turned to his companions and asked to no one in particular, "Will you be staying long?"

"No," Ino said.

"Yes," Gaara said at the same time.

Shikamaru sighed deeply, shaking his head. Temari was watching everything unfold silently, hands propped on her hips. Kankurou was already trying very hard to control his laughter.

"They'll be staying for as long as necessary," Naruto said smoothly when Konohamaru gave Ino and Gaara a puzzled look.

"Uhm, I need a specific timeframe for the traffic report. It's protocol. An estimate would be fine," Konohamaru said.

"A day," Ino said.

"A week," Gaara countered.

"_A week?"_ Temari exclaimed in disbelief.

"Three days," Ino bargained, suddenly feeling faint. Gaara was serious about this.

"Six days," Gaara countered.

Ino opened her mouth to argue. Naruto took that opportunity to butt in.

"Five days, tops. And not a day longer," the Hokage said, giving Gaara a livid look. "As Gaara cannot afford to be away for too long from his village." His gaze shifted to Ino. "Right, _Gaara?"_

Ino nodded vigorously, then remembering she was supposed to be the all-powerful Kazekage, she stopped then said, "Aa," as stoically as she could.

"Oh," Konohamaru said dumbly. "Oh, well if that's the case, five days then." He hurried back behind the desk and flipped through a big black book of what appeared to be the everyday traffic report. The two parties moved along to watch him jot down something. "Uh, if you decide to stay longer than intended, you have to report back here for an extension," he said monotonously as if he had said the same thing many times over that day.

"That wouldn't be necessary," Naruto said. "I'm sure Gaara can finish… whatever he has in mind in five days. Right, Gaara?"

Ino flinched. "A-aa…"

Konohamaru nodded and finished writing down whatever he needed to and looked up at them again. He looked a little suspiciously at Ino, Kankurou and Temari. He was frowning slightly at Ino. Ino took to meeting his gaze head-on.

"Well, since that's all over," Shikamaru said and he lazily walked away through the gates, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I guess I have to go ahead and prepare the places you guys have to stay for five days."

Naruto watched the Nara walk away from them. "I have to go and report back to the tower. Shizune won't be lenient with the paperwork when I get back." He turned to Gaara and Ino. "You'll be headed off to the Yamanaka compound then?"

Gaara nodded wordlessly.

And that was when Ino actually remembered she was about to face her father. Her already bad mood sank even further. Inoichi was never going to let her live this down. And judging from the letter her father had sent to Gaara, it looked like he was going to be taking sides. Was he that desperate to get rid of her?

Naruto turned to Konohamaru, who was still watching them warily. "You're working hard, Konohamaru. We should train together when your schedule opens up. Come see me."

That invitation evidently cheered the boy up. "Really? You mean it?" he asked excitedly, eyes sparkling and hands clenched into fists in anticipation. "Will you teach me how to summon a toad?"

Naruto grinned at his eagerness to learn. "We'll see." And he led the way through the square and down the main alley that led to the Hokage tower. Ino and the others followed him. Ino could feel Konohamaru's eyes on her back.

"Are you guys going along with them?" Naruto asked Kankurou and Temari when they reached the crossroads that led to different paths of the village. Ino looked to the left, the one which led to the Yamanaka compound. In a few minutes she will be facing her father. She didn't even understand why she was dreading it.

Kankurou scratched his neck uncomfortably, all the while looking at the other direction. Ino couldn't help but smirk. The path he was looking down to was the one that led straight to the hospital. "I think I'm going to see some friends while I'm here."

"You mean Sakura?" Temari said bluntly, not fooled by her brother's attempt at discretion. She shook her head at him. "We're paying our respects to the head of the Yamanaka clan for this favor, more than anything else. You're not going anywhere, Romeo."

Kankurou blushed openly. "Who said anything about Sakura?"

"No one, but _everybody_ knows your very impure motives," Temari muttered bitterly.

"She's home sick with the stomach flu," Ino pointed out.

Naruto grinned at her shamelessly, his canines flashing from under his lips. "No, actually that was a lie to get you to go in her place. Sakura's probably in the hospital, working her ass off."

Ino tried her best not to lose her temper at him all over again. Oh, so it was a _lie_, was it? Well then, she's going to have to teach little Miss Haruno that liars go to hell. But that would all have to be done later. She looked over at Gaara who was observing their little conversation. Getting Gaara back in his body was the top priority. Then she'll deal with… _everything else _after that.

Kankurou cursed under his breath but no sooner grumbled his agreement.

Naruto nodded, satisfied. "If you need anything, I'll be in my office." Then he suddenly burst out laughing. "Man, I've always wanted to say that." He turned his back at them and chuckled as he walked away waving one hand over his head. "See yah."

Ino watched Naruto's retreating back, feeling utterly resigned. Sighing, she jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Our place is that way."

Gaara nodded. "I'm looking forward to meeting your father."

"Don't try saying anything funny," Ino warned.

Gaara crossed his arms over his middle. "I wouldn't dream of it. After all, I don't want to ruin my reputation as the man he had given his permission to take you as wife."

Ino scowled at him. "Don't push your luck."

"I don't intend to," Gaara said.

It was weird. Ino sort of believed him when she knew she was supposed to be worried about it.

0

Yamanaka Inoichi was waiting for them in the flower shop. And to Ino's horror, he was wearing a pink apron. _Her _pink apron. And he looked so damn proud about it.

"Take that off, dad," Ino snapped the moment she entered the flower shop, now filled with many orders of different kinds of flowers. She abandoned her rucksack on the floor carelessly.

"Welcome home, tulip," Inoichi said as he put down his clippers on the counter and pushed the vase of gardenias he was tending to the side. He gave Ino one solid look before shaking his head in wonder. "You look absolutely masculine. Amazing. You really did shift bodies."

Ino bit back her tongue when Gaara, Temari and Kankurou entered the flower shop.

"Inoichi-san. It's bee a while," Gaara greeted formally as he circled the narrow space behind Ino, dodging a few pots full of baby's breath.

Inoichi's eyebrows climbed his forehead immediately at the sight of Gaara in Ino's body. "Gaara-kun. It's nice to see you. This is hardly the circumstance I would have preferred having you over, of course, but welcome. Make yourselves at home." He gestured behind him where the door that led to the main house was. "It's been a long journey, hasn't it?"

Temari and Kankurou bowed their heads respectfully at the head of the Yamanaka clan, murmuring their greetings shyly.

"We could have brought something for your table, but this was all kind of sudden," Temari said to Inoichi formally as she loosened the collar of her traveling tunic.

Inoichi brushed the good-natured comment aside. "Nonsense. There are no formalities between friends."

Ino narrowed her eyes at her father. "Since when are you _friends?"_

Inoichi smiled at her sweetly. "Since the _Leaf _and the _Sand _became friends. And that's been, what? Almost a decade now? Good times, good times."

Ino sighed, feeling her shoulders growing heavy as she leaned her back on the counter. She was starting to think that Inoichi needed an early retirement. He was getting on her nerves by being too… _fatherly._ And in front of Gaara of all people.

Inoichi finally found the decency to take off the pink apron he had on, draped it on one of the stools behind him and started rolling up his sleeves. His grin disappeared from his face almost as instantly as it had appeared. "Well, we might as well get you both out of your misery."

Ino instantly straightened. Finally!

Inoichi gave her a stern look that made Ino shrink back in her place. "While I am your father, and you know how much I love you, you do understand that I am not pleased with what your carelessness has caused not only you but our Hokage and the Kazekage. I'm surprised you still have it in you to act all cranky as if you're the victim here. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Temari and Kankurou, who had positioned themselves on two stools in the corner, catapulted to a standing position when they heard Inoichi's cutting voice as he lectured his daughter.

Gaara did not look like he was affected at all, but he merely stepped closer to Ino. "I am to blame, Inoichi-san."

Inoichi shifted his serious gaze at Gaara before returning it to his daughter. "No. The user is always to blame. I don't care how she was coaxed into doing something she hasn't even mastered yet. It was irresponsible and dangerous. I'm glad this is the only thing that's happened. If you had been a little bit unluckier, the mind-transfer jutsu could have blown your consciousness into who-knows-where. And then where would you be?"

Ino felt her throat run dry and she swallowed several times to relieve herself. She ducked her head sheepishly. Her dad was right. She didn't have any excuses. And to think she had been treating Gaara as if he had planned this from the start when it was all her fault. "It won't happen again, dad."

"You're damn right it won't. Try another stunt like this and put the clan to shame, you will have me to answer to. I won't be lenient next time, do you understand, Ino?"

Ino nodded her head wordlessly.

Temari cleared her throat loudly. "Should we leave you two alone, Inoichi-san?"

Inoichi shook his head briefly. "No. This will be over in three seconds. But my wife has prepared something to drink in the kitchen. Where are my manners? You're tired; go on ahead and rest inside. We will join you as soon as everything is set straight."

Kankurou and Temari nearly jumped at the opportunity to leave the flower shop. The tension between father and daughter was so thick one could have cut it with a hot knife. They hurried through the door behind Inoichi after casting a meaningful glance at Gaara, which Gaara ignored completely.

Once they were gone, Inoichi did not waste any time. One moment he was just standing there, the next moment he had his hands outstretched in front of him held in the sign of the shintenshin. It happened faster than Ino could react. Somewhere in the distance she vaguely heard a faint howl, and then the world seemed to slip from under her. Her knees buckled and everything blacked out, and somewhere in the corner of her eye she saw Gaara drop down to his knees and crumpled onto the floor in a heap.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor, her cheek pressed against the glossy wooden tiles of the flower shop, her long blond hair fanned out under her. Every muscle in her body ached, and for some reason her nose was bleeding.

She pushed herself up on shaky arms and coughed several times while wiping at her nose. In the background, she could hear her father talking.

"… know what's good for you and apologize to the Kazekage before joining us in the kitchen. You hear, Ino?"

She could only cough in response. She heard her father's footsteps disappear through the door. And just when her poor mind was about to grasp her situation that she was finally out of Gaara's body and back in her own, someone grabbed her by the wrist and easily pulled her to her feet. It took a few seconds before she could finally balance on her own, and just when she found the world under her cooperate, another hand was suddenly on her waist and she was dragged forward against something that was broad, hard and smelled of sage.

Ino looked up slowly and ended up staring straight into deep-set, teal eyes. She squeaked and tried to pull away. Unfortunately, the hand Gaara had on her waist was firm.

"W-what are you doing?" Ino stammered nervously, using her free hand to wipe at her nose once again.

Gaara's dark-rimmed eyes bore down at her, nostrils flaring slightly as if picking up a scent only he could smell. "I," he started, his hold tightening around her, "am making the most out of my five days."

Ino couldn't help but blush furiously, lowering her hand onto Gaara's chest, honestly lost. "Making the most…?"

"I told you I shall court you properly the moment we're back in our bodies," Gaara said quietly. "I'm simply keeping my word."

Sweat popped on Ino's brow when Gaara's penetrating gaze still did not leave her. How the men of Suna courted their women was beyond Ino, but she had to hand it to him, the forward approach did make her pulse race. She laughed shrilly. "Keeping your word is good, I guess?" she said lamely.

"And I would assume you would keep yours?" Gaara asked under his breath, the hand gripping Ino's wrist slackening.

Ino wracked her brains for whatever promise she had made to him. She swallowed. When Ino didn't speak, the corners of Gaara's lips twitched slightly.

"You owe me dinner," he said.

Ino blinked.

Gaara tilted his head to the right.

And Ino said the smartest thing she could say given the circumstance.

"Oh, shit."

* * *

_A/N: Very articulate, yes? XD Now who's up for a fluffy chappie next?_


	18. Chapter 18

Ino couldn't actually pinpoint the exact time when she had started working like a madwoman. It was probably when she turned eighteen and her father had thought her fit to finally join him in the Konoha Torture and Investigation Force. She had hoped to be with her father in the Intelligence Division when she was qualified enough, but for some reason her father had other plans. Anyway, Ibiki Morino was a strict teacher, but she was too proud to say she wanted a different career option. That, and she was too stubborn to accept the fact that she couldn't handle learning medical ninjutsu while training to be one of the Investigation Force.

And maybe the fact that she didn't want to be left behind by her batch mates.

At nineteen, Shikamaru was already promoted to head strategist, replacing his father, Shikaku, in the council while training as the heir to the Nara Clan. At the same time, Chouji was already in the Village Defense Team while managing the affairs of the Akimichi clan since his father retired.

Her team was the least that had bothered her. Everyone in her batch was preoccupied with one thing or another. Tenten was then assigned in the Artillery Department while spending most of her time in the Academy as a jounin teacher. Lee was with her, teaching, of course. And still clad in his ridiculous green body suit, he was one of the most loved teachers there. By then, Neji was already the head of the Barrier Team and enjoyed an elite life with a six figure monthly paycheck.

By that time Shino and Kiba were already researching to their heart's content outside the village, a freedom not usually granted to Jounin unless on a long-term mission. Hinata, on the other hand, had been working side-by-side with Shizune on a new form of sealing jutsu that required a great amount of Chakra control. Sakura had taken Shizune's place in the hospital as Head Medic. Sai, remarkably, had taken over Root and worked directly under Naruto's command as his right hand man.

Oh, and not to mention Naruto, who had become Hokage at twenty.

And Ino… well… Ino didn't want to be left behind. She had worked her ass off under Shizune and Sakura's tutelage while taking a bashing from Ibiki six hours a day, six days a week. She could say she was happy, but that was because she didn't have the time to feel sorry for herself. Now she was twenty-five. And she found out she didn't regret any of the choices she had made then. Sure, her social life suffered from it. If one could still call it a social life.

She had abandoned all thought about possible relationships. Many had tried. She had declined all suitors' attempts. It took a while before they finally got the picture. Of course, driving them away needed more than just an _'I'm not interested'_. She had to be more than just a bitch to keep them away. After a few months of putting up an attitude, they finally started staying away. Some whose pride she had wounded had been bitter. Her reputation as 'Snow Queen' stuck to her. People talked. She never really minded them. She had friends and family who knew otherwise. And that was all that mattered. That, and her job. And nothing else.

And then here came the Kage of Suna, who she had practically _shown _every single form of rejection she could think of. And she still couldn't shake him off.

The moment they had returned to their own bodies, Gaara hadn't wasted time in reminding her of her promise of dinner. It was not as if she had planned on backing out of her word. In fact, she had actually started running a few restaurant names in her head where she thought Gaara might like.

After a few hours with Inoichi and his tea, Shikamaru had shown up to inform them that the rooms in the Administration building were at their disposal, and so after more apologizing from Inoichi's part, Gaara, Kankurou and Temari left. But that was not until Gaara gave Ino a look that could have meant anything.

Ino had to endure a few more minutes – forty-five exactly – of yapping from Inoichi after that.

When she finally managed to escape from him, she had decided to take a long deserved bath. It felt weird to be back in her own body for some reason. She kept on touching her arms and looking at her fingers while she was soaking in the tub, all the while thinking about the time Gaara had told her she had small hands.

Damn. She realized he was all she had in her thoughts. The fact surprised her immensely. That, and the fact that she was ever so slightly anticipating dinner with him.

But of all the things she would have imagined they would be doing on a first date, she hadn't even thought it would ever begin with him knocking on her bedroom window while riding a cloud of sand.

She was curled up on her bed with a random novel in her hands when he came rapping on the glass. She wouldn't have found this weird if her room wasn't on the second floor. She already knew that it would be him. She tucked the book under an arm, hurried over to the window and pushed back the curtains. Gaara was crouched lightly on a tuft of sand floating inches from her window. He was dressed in plain, dark-grey trousers and an off-white shirt. He was staring straight at her through the glass.

Ino flipped the hook lock and pushed the window open, dreading whatever he had to say to her.

"Hello," Gaara greeted, as if knocking on windows on two-storey houses was a normal thing.

Ino suddenly realized she was dressed in nothing but one of her oldest pink pajamas. These were her favorite pair. They were comfortably over-worn, the left leg of her pajama bottoms sporting a hole on the knee which she had patched with a square piece of polka-dot cloth. Her hair was in a disheveled bun on top of her head and her face was scrubbed clean of make-up.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" she demanded weakly, her free hand flying to the over-stretched collar of her top.

"I was around the neighborhood," he said simply.

Now he was starting to act like an annoying neighbor.

"There's nothing to see in these parts of town, Kazekage-sama," Ino said blandly.

Gaara's eyes traveled up and down Ino's length, eyes twinkling. "I beg to differ."

Ino scowled and moved to slam the window in his face. Gaara's hand shot out to stop her.

"I wanted to see you," he said quickly, his fingers curling around the window pane. "I wanted to see how you were holding up."

Ino hesitated and she let go of the window slowly, looking down at her feet. "I'm doing fine. Now that I've finally escaped my dad."

"He was still giving you a hard time?"

"He can't help it, I guess. The clan's reputation depends on it, after all."

"I can go talk to him, if you want me to."

"That won't be necessary. He'll forget about everything in the morning. He always does." She grinned in spite of herself, shaking her head at him. "We have a front door, you know."

Gaara looked down at the sand under him, then returned his gaze at Ino. "But then, I will have had spent more time with Inoichi than with you if I knocked on your front door. He would have spent hours apologizing about something you supposedly did wrong."

"That's my dad for you," Ino said. Gaara looked grim and she scratched the back of her neck feebly. "Uhm, so… do you… want to come in?" She could just imagine the grapevine talking about this the next day that the Kage of Suna was seen on a cloud of sand as he tried to have a conversation with the Yamanaka girl. Oh, her father would have another fit with _that_.

Gaara, for a moment looked a bit tempted at the offer. He leaned forward curiously and peered into Ino's room. There really wasn't much to see. It was the typical girl's room. Her mother had painted the walls lavender even before she was born, and Ino guessed the color stuck until she grew up. There was a bed shoved against the corner, a shelf full of romance novels that had accumulated over her teen years, a small round table in the middle of the room, and a couple of floor pillows to accompany it for when she had friends over when she was younger. She had never bothered changing the look as she grew up; with all the things that had been eating her schedule, she was hardly even there except to sleep.

Gaara sat back down on his sand and shook his head. "We don't have time."

Ino frowned at that. "No time for what?"

"To stay," Gaara said simply as he reached out one hand to her. "Let's go."

Ino instantly backed away from him suspiciously. She had been around Gaara long enough – right before they exchanged bodies – to know that he always had something under his sleeve. Well, it was not as if he was going to do anything bad within the village. Not that he had done anything wrong to her at all before... Not really…

But seriously, a sudden invite at this hour?

"Ino?" Gaara's voice ripped through her subconscious.

Ino blinked, startled. "What?"

Gaara pinned her a meaningful look, his hand still outstretched in front of him. "Dinner."

Ino let out a squawk and her book dropped to the floor. "Dinner? _Now?"_

"Yes," he said, and he gestured with his outstretched hand. "Come with me."

Ino stared at his hand in disbelief. "But… but… I'm not even dressed. Give me five minutes and – "

"You're perfect," he interrupted, expression unchanging.

Ino blushed furiously at his compliment although it sounded more like an outright lie to her. She knew she looked like a disaster, and yet he was actually inviting her out to dine. She shook her head. "No. You can't make me. You're hardly even in the proper attire to enter a restaurant except Ichiraku. And I'm – "

"You are beautiful," he interrupted again. And perhaps he had finally run out of patience because a trail of sand found its way around Ino's unsuspecting wrist and tugged her forward. With a strangled yelp she was thrown against Gaara's waiting arms.

The man didn't waste his time and before Ino knew it, one of his hands were on her back, the other one was gripping her wrist lightly.

Ino swallowed nervously at the proximity. Her face was inches from his, and he was breathing calmly against her cheek. His familiar scent of sage filled her nostrils and she couldn't help but feel strangely weak in the knees. Of course, the fact that she was half-hanging out of her bedroom window did little to settle her nerves.

Gaara peered down at her, face unreadable as can be. A few seconds passed and the book Ino was reading earlier floated past her ear, carried by Gaara's sand. Gaara gave it a fleeting look. "The Tale of Genji?" he asked, amused.

The blush on Ino's cheeks deepened. "For some light reading. You know, before bed."

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow. "You read about a man's conquest with many different women before going to sleep? Interesting."

Ino snapped her wrist free from his grip and snatched the book from his sand, hugging it to her chest, embarrassed. "I'll have you know that this actually a literary masterpiece."

"Indeed," he agreed. "If you can set aside the adultery, pedophilia and polygamy, then I suppose it would be a nice thing to keep in your book case." He was being sarcastic. Sarcasm suited him strangely well.

Ino slapped him gently across the chest with the book. "It's _literature_."

Gaara looked down at the spot she had hit him over with the book, then looked back up at her. "Fine. You can bring the book. We're off."

Ino gasped. "Off where?" she intended to ask, but before the words were out of her mouth, sand had suddenly swallowed her up whole and the street below her and the room behind her disappeared in a heartbeat, the roaring sound of a desert storm flooding her senses. She closed her eyes and took refuge in Gaara's chest, and before she knew it, she was in some place that was most definitely not the Yamanaka compound.

She knew the place fairly well. They were on a hill in the Northern outskirts of the Leaf, a few hours away from the Hokage Mountain. That was probably the only place in the whole village that was dark enough to see the stars. Konoha was always so well lit in the evenings that the sky above the village proper was nothing more than black velvet on clear evenings.

Ino was not new to these parts of Konoha. This hill was where the jounin teachers took their students to learn about different kinds of flowers for their Ikebana subject in the academy. But that had been ages ago for Ino. When was the last time she had ventured back into this hill? She could not remember. There was nothing really there except for a broad expanse of grass that was filled with cosmos in the summer.

Ino stumbled away from Gaara the moment her bare feet touched slightly moist grass and she nearly fell head-first into the ground. Gaara was quick enough to support her elbow and he steadied her on her feet before letting her go.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Ino nodded, exhaling loudly as she looked around. "Yeah. But the question is, are _you?_ I thought we were having dinner…"

"We are," Gaara said.

Ino frowned as she pushed away a few strands of loose hair from her face. He was confusing her. Dinner on a hill? He was making it sound like he had taken her out to a romantic evening picnic under the stars and –

A small fire cheerily blazing a hundred feet away caught her attention when Gaara gestured behind him, and her jaw dropped open as she saw what was laid not a few feet away from it.

A fairly large cloth was spread over the grass and a conspicuous-looking basket of something was sitting right in the middle of it. And was that a bottle of desert wine right next to it?

She felt Gaara took her hand and led her towards the fire. She followed dreamily, unable to get over the fact that she was outside the comforts of her home without footwear, decent clothing or makeup. It was almost a good enough shock to cover up the slight awe she was feeling for Gaara's obvious attempt at romance.

Before she knew it, Gaara had sat her on the cloth, took the book she had been holding in front of her like a shield, and flipped open the lid of the basket. He was digging inside it clumsily before he spoke.

"This… isn't me. I would never have thought of doing this at all," he confessed shyly as he procured a box of something and laid it down in front of Ino. "It was Kankurou's idea. And Temari's. Temari made the food."

Ino swallowed to relieve herself of her dry throat and looked down at the box of something Temari _supposedly_ made. Shapeless lumps of rice that was probably an attempt at onigiri peered up at her pitifully. She grimaced. "Temari made the food, eh?"

"Yes," Gaara said. "That's why I made it a point to bring these." He handed her a bag of something.

Ino took the bag gingerly and laughed. "Sausages?"

"And these," Gaara added, tossing her a pack of marshmallows.

Ino stared at him in mock incredulity. "You want me to roast these over the open fire?"

Gaara shrugged wordlessly, producing two skewers from the basket and handing one to Ino. "They go well with the wine?" he tried.

In spite of the circumstance, Ino had to laugh. She ripped the back of sausages open and proceeded in poking a couple of sausages on both of their skewers while Gaara busied himself with pouring the wine on plastic cups that he had dug out of his little basket. She exchanged a skewer for a cup and raised it in front of her for a toast. "Well, here's to Temari's excellent cooking skills."

Gaara took the box of onigiri and threw it in the fire, then clinked his cup with hers. "Cheers."

Ino took a sip of the wine and she could tell from the taste it was the same wine Gaara always offered her when she had overnight missions in the Sand. She blushed at the remembrance of what Temari said about it, and she was glad it was dark enough to hide her face from Gaara. Of course, it wasn't as if the man was looking at her right now. For some reason, he was intent at watching the fire consume Temari's cooking. He wasn't even holding out his sausages to roast.

Ino thought it proper to start a conversation. "Uhm, so. Why… why don't you tell me about yourself more?"

Gaara blinked and raised his eyes to meet hers. The reflection of the flame made the green in them almost look even deeper in contrast to the shadows playing on his face. "There isn't really much to tell."

Ino frowned at him. And to think this was the guy who was thinking of winning her heart over. "There has to be something you want to tell me that's why you took me out here, right?"

"Aside from the fact that I fancy you? But you already know that." He downed his wine and poured himself some more, his sausages forgotten.

Ino didn't even know how to take his attitude. She reached out and snatched his skewer from him, then forced into his hands her own roasted ones. "If you're planning to impress me, you're doing a pretty bad job at it. Given the fact that you were pretty forward back in the Land of Iron, to tell you honestly, I'm a bit disappointed."

Gaara stared down at the sausages in his hand, then shifted his eyes back to Ino's face. "Did you change your mind, then?"

Ino wrinkled her nose. "I never said that. I promised I would give you a chance. And I meant it." She snorted offhandedly before pretending to be engrossed on getting her sausages done. "I mean, you're not a bad guy. You're not bad-looking either. I mean, you're hot and all…" She paused, realizing she had just blurted out that she thought him aesthetically. She shifted in her place, tucking her feet under her self-consciously.

Gaara was watching her silently like a hawk. He nodded at her. "I think you're attractive, too."

Ino groaned inwardly. This was starting to sound really silly. They were acting like school kids. And personally, Ino thought bashfulness was not Gaara at all. She sighed and looked down at her sausages. They were already cracking from being too close to the fire and Ino hurriedly withdrew them. She blew at one and took a bite once she thought it wasn't too hot to eat. At least eating was an excuse not to talk to him. And since he didn't look too interested in talking, either, well…

"You surprise me a lot," Gaara suddenly said as he too took on his sausages.

Ino paused in mid-chew, looked over at him. "Eh?"

"We have never talked much until the avalanche incident, but I've found out a lot of things about you that are contrary to what I thought you would be."

Ino raised an eyebrow at him. "What did you _think_ I was, anyway?"

"I thought you would have valued life more than you do. But after everything we've been through, it was always my life before yours. Tell me, do you always do that to people who rank higher than you?"

Ino lowered her food, pursing her lips. "Are we back to that conversation again? Because personally, I don't want to talk about work when I'm on my day-off."

"Oh," was all Gaara said as he abandoned his cup and the skewer altogether on the basket. He turned to face her, then, "Shall we talk about something you usually talk about when you're off duty?"

Ino was taken aback and she found herself thinking about things that she usually did on a day-off. She was surprised to discover that nothing in particular came to mind. He was waiting for her to say something. It was embarrassing to admit that she still thought of work on her personal time. Oh, gods. What had she turned into?

She laughed weakly, trying to avoid his gaze. She concentrated on the fire in front of her. "I don't have a social life, if that's what you want to know. It's been a long, hard battle since I was nineteen. It was more likely an unspoken rivalry between my batch. I just wanted to rise to the top."

Gaara waved a hand and sand swirled to pick up a loose bit of timber to feed to the fire. "Having a dream isn't bad. We all strive to be better than what we are now."

Ino gave him a pained smile. He was trying to cheer her up. "Isn't this too deep for a first date?"

Gaara returned her smile with a smirk. "More like too late, since I've practically slept with you already."

She couldn't help but find the humor in this. "And a bath, right?"

Gaara was silent as he examined her face over the fire. He shifted in his place, and Ino's eyes widened in surprise when he lowered himself onto the cloth, stretching his long legs across the grass and lying his head on her lap.

Ino stiffened on her place. "What are you doing?"

"Resting. It's been a long day," he said matter-of-factly, draping his arm across his eyes and sighing contentedly.

"And you're using my lap as a convenient pillow?"

"Yes. Do you mind?"

"Well… no. Not really… " Ino grumbled. She slowly abandoned her skewer beside her cup only to find out this was a bad idea; now she didn't know what to do with her hands. Awkwardly, she placed one hand on top of Gaara's head, fingers running through his messy red hair experimentally. When Gaara didn't seem to mind, she gently kneaded his scalp with the tips of her fingers. Gaara groaned in appreciation. Ino couldn't help but smile down at him. "I… apologize for everything, Gaara."

Gaara peeled his arm from his facce and looked up at her with half-closed eyes. "This was not your fault. If my siblings hadn't been scheming behind our backs, then none of this would have happened." His arm returned over his eyes. "And even I wouldn't have known if that were a good or bad thing. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have gotten to be with you right now."

Ino snorted. "I've never really thought myself to be that good a company. Not many men think of me as Miss Personality, you know."

Gaara sniffed. "I still find that hard to believe. Are you sure you don't have any admirers?"

Ino laughed. "Not a one. Why?"

"That's a shame." Gaara lowered his arm away from his face again, reached for the hand she had in his hair and squeezed her fingers lightly. "If they would only be able to look at you through my eyes, then they would be able to see what I see."

Ino blushed shyly. Of course she wasn't about to tell him that it was actually _her_ fault why they kept away. She was surprised when Gaara's grip tightened around her hand.

"I take it back," he said.

Ino blinked. "What?"

Gaara rolled to his side, buried his face against her stomach and twirled an arm around her middle. "If everyone saw what I see in you, then I would have many rivals. And I wouldn't stand a chance against them."

Ino bit her lower lip and tried very hard not to pull away. Gaara's mouth tickled her tummy as he spoke, his warm breath staining over her pajama top. "Now look who's selling himself short."

Gaara snuggled even closer to her. "I was kidding. I know you find me attractive."

Ino grabbed a tuft of his hair and tugged hard. "We love ourselves."

Gaara pulled away from her stomach to give her a pointed look. "I do. But I think I'm starting to love you more."

Ino felt her face burst into flames, and Gaara grinned silently. It was the sign that he was doing it on purpose to embarrass her. "I hate you," she hissed, turning her nose away from him.

She felt him return his face back against her stomach. "I know, Ino. That's why I'm doing my best. Give me time."

Of course, Ino just didn't know that the five-day count-down before she fell in love had begun.

And at that moment, she would have thought the setting purely romantic, near the fire, under the stars and a handsome man on her lap.

But that was until Gaara spoke his mind out.

"You're not wearing breast bindings tonight, are you?"

Ino jerked in her place and resisted the urge to knee him away from her. "I'll pretend you never asked me that."

Gaara nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

* * *

_A/N: Fluff. Comedy. Fluff. Hard to keep them constant... XD_


	19. Chapter 19

The date, much to Ino's surprise – and utter relief – ended surprisingly well. They had picked up a few moments right after sunrise when the horizon was already turning into a beautiful light-orange gradient of colors. It was strange; Ino didn't think she would actually enjoy their first date. Perhaps she wasn't giving Gaara enough credit. Or maybe she was being too prejudiced. It had been fun, mostly filled with comfortable silences and side-long glances while they thought the other wasn't looking. Gaara hadn't left her lap all night and as their fire died down into tiny embers they had settled to stargazing. Ino never thought she was capable of enjoying such a date. She had always thought herself to be above the romance and wooing, and so having the memory of Gaara kissing her cheek goodnight after taking her home making her blush had caught her off-guard.

"Earth to Ino?"

Ino blinked twice, raised her head from her hand and found Sakura watching her worriedly from across the table. They were having an early lunch at the _Washoku_ restaurant, given they were both off-duty. Sakura had been more than surprised when she came home with the Kazekage and his party. Of course, Ino didn't waste time in blaming her about everything that has happened since the Land of Iron. Sakura didn't even try to deny it. In fact, she had the nerve to act all smug about it, saying things like, _"Well, it's about time you came to your senses and get a man before you turn old and grey and moldy,"_ or, _"Gaara is a decent man. You can thank me later when your sex life starts to pick up,"_ or, _"You're just too proud to admit that a part of you is actually flattered to be noticed by such a catch."_

Ino scowled at her. "What?"

Sakura pointed at her with her spoon. "Can you just spit it out already?"

"I can't believe you did this to me. You traitor, you." Ino used her chopsticks to bat Sakura's spoon away from her face. "If you hadn't pretended to have the stomach flu – "

"Naruto said it was a matter of life and death." Sakura shrugged. "How was I to know it had anything to with the life or death of the _Kazekage?"_

"You should have said no, anyway. The mere fact that you didn't know what was going on should have made you suspicious. What if it had put me in danger?"

"Naruto would never allow anything to happen to you, you know that," Sakura said quietly and she dug her spoon into her fried rice. Sighing, she raised her eyes back at Ino. "Look, why don't you just tell me what's really eating you?"

Ino was taken aback, and she swallowed hard, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "What's eating me? Nothing's eating me. I mean… what makes you think something's eating me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, let me see. Well, you've been complaining to me ever since we've sat down for lunch about how everyone's schemed behind your back to set you up with Gaara. So far, you've put the blame on Naruto, Kankurou, Temari and myself. Then, when you've finally decided to shut up for about five seconds about us, you complain about bad luck, and then some. Now _you _tell me what's eating you."

Ino frowned then ducked her head away from her best friend. Had she really been complaining that much? Surely, Sakura was simply exaggerating, right? "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm not sure how to take this in stride. Who would have thought this would happen, right?"

Sakura stared at her sternly for a good three seconds before her expression softened and she leaned forward on the table, pushing her plate aside. "You're doing it again, Ino."

"Doing what?" Ino demanded.

"The thing you always do when a guy shows interest in you: you push them away. And the only thing that's different then and now is that Gaara's persistent enough to ignore, dodge or whatever he's doing to your rebuffs." Sakura gestured at her. "You know what I think? I think the reason why you're so pissed is because you actually like him."

That had Ino squawking in protest. She felt her face grow hot and she dropped her chopsticks on the table. "W-w-what?! No! I – that's – n-no – !"

Sakura's eyes widened and she clapped her hands in glee. "Oh, God, I'm right! You actually _do_ like him!"

"That's not true!"

"Don't lie to your best friend. Save yourself the embarrassment." Sakura gave her a Cheshire-cat smile. "Surely, you can't find him undesirable, right?"

That shut Ino up, and she pursed her lips in distaste. "Well… no… Not really. He's… just… how do you say this?"

"Sex on legs?" Sakura offered.

Ino pinned her a stern glare before she burst out laughing. She should have known better than pretend that she didn't care about this in front of Sakura. "Yes, he's hot," she admitted, leaning closer and lowering her voice. "The man has abs like they're chiseled in _stone_."

Sakura threw up her hands in the air. "You're hopeless. The man's crazy about you. And you just said so yourself: he's hot! What's the problem then?"

Ino snorted. "If a relationship were built on physical attraction, then this would be a lot less complicated."

"What, does he have some weird habit you don't like? Bad breath or something?"

Ino let out another snort. "Bad breath? No. Weird habits, none that I know of so far." Then, a bit abashed, added, "Well, he's a bit perverted."

Sakura's eyebrows rose instantly. "Aren't _all_ men?"

"How on earth should I know? I'm having a hard enough time understanding _Gaara_. More so other men." And it's not as if she'd dated men before long enough to know if they were perverted or not.

"Look, Ino. Gaara is Naruto's _friend_. His sister is dating your _team mate!_ You have more than enough reasons to know he's a good man. I mean, he's the _Kazekage_," Sakura said, waving a hand in front of her face as if to brush away what she had just said. "Bah! Forget that. He's _hot_. End of story."

Ino couldn't help but laugh at her. Oh, God. It felt so good to laugh at this matter about Gaara as if it weren't a big deal. Perhaps… perhaps she had been taking this all too seriously? Was she making a big deal of this? Now that she was talking to someone who thought this wasn't, she was starting to believe that she was making a mountain out of a molehill. So Gaara liked her. So she sorta-kinda liked him. So what? Sakura knew her too well. Years of friendship had taught the pink-haired kunoichi to know that Ino liked blowing things out of proportion sometimes.

Ino smiled weakly, resting her cheek on her hand. "He's staying for five days here."

Sakura gave her a knowing look. "Ah, what ever for, I wonder?"

Ino scratched her neck, flustered. "Well… I kind of promised him back in the land of Iron that, uhm, that I'd give him a chance…"

Sakura nodded briskly. "Fantastic. When's the wedding?"

Ino snatched a tomato from her plate, flung it at her. Sakura giggled happily as it bounced off her left cheek, then over her shoulder.

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I think it's good you're giving him a chance. You never ever did consider giving chances away to men who showed their interest in you. Now I'm really convinced you like him, too."

"Ugh. Please don't say it out loud," Ino hissed, looking around afraid someone was listening to their conversation. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to talk about this in such an open place. Jeez, how long ago has it been since she had traded stories about boys with a friend? In a sense she found it comforting. A part of all this scared her to death, even if at the back of her mind she repeated over and over that she was no longer a teenager. Having said that, she was feeling a bit annoyed that the thought of Gaara was making her giddy.

Sakura's eyes twinkled happily. "Oh, look at you. _Look at you_, all twisted into a tight little knot all because of a guy. I hate to say it, but I haven't seen you this riled up since, well, since Sasuke, I think."

"Oh, not that name, please," Ino pleaded, feeling her mood sinking. "I can't believe you just mentioned him."

Sakura hid her mouth behind a knuckle her eyes narrowing slightly in remorse. "Sorry. For all it's worth, I feel just as idiotic every time I remember him. I was just stating a fact about your… uh… you know…" she finished lamely.

Ino shook her head silently, unsure of what to say to her in return. She could feel Sakura's eyes on her for the longest possible time.

"Ino," Sakura said quietly, her knuckle still pressed to her lip. "Sasuke isn't Gaara. And he's… I mean, from the way you talked about him, I'd say he's… annoyingly smitten."

Ino let out a huff of air as she met Sakura's eye. Smitten, huh? Yeah, that just about summed it up. And the mere fact made her feel absolutely horrible. Whatever did he see in her, anyway? "He's not completely bad. In some parallel universe, I might actually have a few kicks from all this. But this is real, Sakura. My job – _my life_ – is for Konoha. It can't split priorities just because – "

"Just because a man of higher rank has his eyes on you?" Sakura interrupted, rolling her eyes in exaggeration. "You are _such _a prude. Naruto has never demanded from anyone that they lose themselves for the sake of the village and you know it. You're just trying to look for an excuse to squirm your way out of this possible relationship."

"That is so _not true!"_ Ino protested and, despite herself, laughed out loud. She threw another tomato at Sakura, who dodged it easily as she started laughing along with her.

"Well, tell me where Lover Boy is right now. I'd have expected he would be glued to your side for the next, what? Four, five days?"

It was Ino's turn to roll her eyes. "How should I know? I haven't seen him all morning." She frowned. Come to think of it, where _was_ Gaara?

"Why not try looking for him?" Sakura suggested, pulling back her plate towards her and resuming her eating.

"And why should I do that, I wonder?" Ino asked, wary.

"Because that's what normal hosts do; entertain their guests. Especially hosts who promised their guests chances. That's why."

Oh, so she was going to pull the host card on her, eh? Ino leaned forward and hissed under her breath. "Okay, I'll admit it. I like him. A lot. Before any of this happened, I would never have considered… _us_. Being trapped in that avalanche changed everything. And while a normal idiot would have eaten up his damn chivalrous ass, I know better. He and I can't possibly be."

Sakura was back to watching her with those green eyes of hers. After a full minute, she asked, "Why?"

Ino floundered for the right words to explain. "You wouldn't understand."

"You could try to _help_ me understand, you know." Sakura reached out and squeezed Ino's hand gently, looking absolutely frustrated. "You've always been very hard on yourself when it came to men, and the last thing I'd expect you to do is make up some excuse to get rid of an amazing guy who – "

"I'm not making up excuses. I…" Ino shook her head briskly before shrugging in resignation. "In the cave, back when he and I were trapped in that mountain tunnel, I tried to do my job. You know what my job is, right?"

"Of course I know what your job is. It's our job, after all," Sakura said soothingly, and that was the time when Ino realized she was raising her voice at her best friend.

Ino raised a hand in front of her apologetically. "Sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you."

"No worries. It's not as if I don't know you enough to tell you're just a bit stressed about… well, about something I still can't put my finger into." Sakura leaned back onto her chair. "Was there something… ? What did he do exactly, Ino?" she asked.

Ino grimaced, unsure of what to say to her. She blew at her bangs before imitating Sakura and leaning herself back on her chair. "Protecting our superiors comes natural to me. You know that, right? That time in the Land of Iron, Naruto had been my priority. When we got separated, _Gaara_ had been my new priority. And I tried to make sure he was safe. But he didn't even have the decency to let me do even _that_."

"And what did he do _exactly?"_

"He did a lot of things."

"Like?"

"Like eat unknown mushrooms like it was nothing," Ino snapped, as if that reason was enough to explain the way Gaara had tried to reject her protection.

Sakura blinked at her, as if waiting for her to say something more.

Ino felt her left eye twitch impatiently.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Well, he didn't die from them, right?"

"Of course not," Ino scoffed. "He was just fooling around with them to push my buttons when he knew I was going to worry about it."

Sakura was silent, then, "That's it?"

"No, there were a lot of things that happened down that cave."

Sakura shrugged before using her spoon to push a few vegetables around her plate. "Yeah, so I heard. I guess a lot of things did happen down there. Enough to have rumors about you and Gaara dating have circulated around the Kage of the other nations."

Ino nearly fell out of her chair. "Who told you that?" she demanded.

Sakura grinned. "Temari, who else? She was in the hospital last night. We had dinner together. She filled me in on a lot of things that you wouldn't have told me out of embarrassment. I was right. You're not giving me anything here that I could actually use to help you try to asses you _'predicament'_. But," Sakura said, tapping a finger on the table to catch her attention. "It doesn't really matter. Since, you know, Temari's been kind enough to inform me about it."

Ino wanted to reach out and wring her neck then and there. So what was the point in Sakura asking her about Gaara when she already _knew_ about it since yesterday night? She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "Well, since you already know, I suppose you're going to tell me that I'm thinking about this too much, right?"

"Yes," Sakura said plainly. "He was being a gentleman. He probably wanted to protect you as much as you wanted to protect him."

"And he danced on my pride as a kunoichi along with that desire to protect."

"Well, of course he did. He probably didn't mean to, though. He was protecting you as a _man_, not as a _ninja_. You're being too, I don't know, _professional_ about this. Can't you just let this pass as a normal courtship?"

Ino's left eye twitched again, and she shook her head vigorously. "What, and let him trample what I've worked so hard for the past decade? Look, I've already given him that chance to feed his delusion of having a possible relationship with me. But the truth is, there wouldn't be a happy ending out of this. Because I am what I am, and he is what he is. And that's that."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Ino in disbelief. "But you like him. You said so yourself earlier."

"Yes I did. I'm not denying that. But I've already signed up for this. My life is for the village." Ino scratched her head briskly. "And I'd be damned if he tells me otherwise when I decide to lay down that life if I have to."

When Sakura didn't react to what she said, Ino looked up and found her best friend staring wide-eyed at a spot over Ino's shoulder. The realization hit Ino immediately, and she felt her heart sink rapidly. "Oh, God. He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Sakura gave her a jerky nod.

Ino slowly turned over her chair to look over her shoulder. Standing not a few feet away from her was none other than Gaara, dressed in his simple maroon tunic. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and for some weird reason had a bouquet of flowers in one hand. Ino swallowed hard when she saw the expression on his face. He did not look too pleased.

Sakura was instantly on her feet, pushing her chair back. "I suddenly remembered I have to be… somewhere else that isn't here. I'll see you later, Ino."

Ino whirled around to stop Sakura from abandoning her completely, but the pink-haired kunoichi was already gone even before she could utter a word. This was not turning out to be a good day. And to think she had been so comfortable with Gaara just last night. But right now she could practically feel the tension in the air around them. Plastering a nervous smile on her face, she turned to face Gaara again. "Hey there. I was wondering where you were."

Gaara scowled at her, and Ino stood up from her seat, backing away a bit. Feeling foolish for having to be afraid of him like this, she forced herself to step forward again.

"You look angry," she said, reaching out a hand to pat him on the shoulder.

Gaara looked down at the spot where Ino touched him briefly, then he returned his gaze back at her. "Do you want to lay down your life so bad for your village?"

Ino was taken aback from his tone. No preambles. Nothing. He was just there, as if in accusation. A part of her felt slightly annoyed at him. Here he was again, making a big deal of her dedication when it came to her job. "It's not as if I'm suicidal or anything, Gaara. Don't make it sound like I'm eager to die or anything."

"And yet you talk about life and death as if it were nothing." Gaara dropped his arms at his side. The bouquet – Ino saw they were tulips – brushing at his knees. "How do you expect me to react to that?"

Ino widened her eyes at him. How could he even ask that? "I don't know. You've been over-reacting about it since that day in the mountain cave. You know what a ninja is. You should know how dispensable we are."

That had Gaara's scowl deepening. After a few seconds of silently glaring at her, he turned on his heel and started to walk away.

Ino jaw dropped silently, and she hurriedly went after him. "Hey. Hey, wait!" He didn't even slow down. That got Ino even more annoyed. She broke into a run and stepped in front of Gaara to stop him from walking. He nearly ran her over. He stopped an inch from colliding against her.

"What is your problem?" she demanded. "You're being stupid. Is this how you're going to be? Because we haven't even started dating, and you're already starting to annoy me with your possessiveness."

"_Possessiveness?"_ Gaara drawled menacingly. "You're calling me _possessive_ for caring about whether you _live or die?"_

Ino shook her head. "There you go again. Life. Death. What is wrong with you?" she asked him again.

Gaara's deep-set eyes searched her face before he opened his mouth and said, "For someone who hasn't even died before, you can talk as if it's _'just death'_. But you don't even know how it feels to die. You don't know how cold and lonely and totally _over_ everything feels. I do. But the worst feeling about my case, is that I came back from the dead. I saw people crying. I saw people – _hundreds of them_ – hurting because I was gone. I saw friends and family blame themselves for losing my life." He turned away from her. "Life meant nothing to me until that day. But after having someone offer their life for me to live, I knew my life isn't just _'mine'_. I never want to see people suffering because I took for granted something that I had and lost because it was my _'job'_." With that, Gaara thrust the bouquet into Ino's arms so suddenly that Ino let out a surprised cry. "But I guess you and I think differently. So here's some flowers for your grave. If you think death isn't a big deal, then send me a post card when you get to heaven. Or hell. Or wherever you'd go when you do."

Ino, suddenly feeling greatly embarrassed, opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. Because the sight of Gaara walking away from her after having poured out something that she hadn't expected he would share with her had rendered her speechless.

And now more than ever did she feel like a complete and utter idiot.

* * *

_**A/N: So sorry for the late update. A lot of things happened I'd rather not talk about. I guess you'd say it hasn't been a good month for me, and it shows in this chapter. No humor. No funny stuff. I'll try to get myself together for the next chapter. Story's almost over anyway. Thanks for waiting patiently for this.**_


	20. Chapter 20

Ino had, in fairness, tried to look for Gaara for about an hour before giving up when he looked like he did not want to be found. By the time she had decided to take a breather by Ichiraku, which she had checked twice just in case Gaara was hiding in there for some reason or another, the tulips in her hands were already close to wilting and a few petals were missing from some of them. She didn't really care much for the flowers. It was just in her personality to be bothered by a conversation that never quite ended. Damn him. How dare he open a topic only to walk away from her? In normal circumstances she would have been pissed silly.

But right now, she just felt… _horrible_. It was strange; she wanted to believe that she was right about her beliefs. Gaara was starting to get under her skin. The memory of his angry face flashed before her minds eye and the bad feeling worsened.

Ino frowned down at the flowers and sighed. She didn't even know why she was feeling this bad about everything. Was it so wrong to believe what she believed in?

This was what she had signed up for. It came as a sort of prerequisite when born to a ninja family, and she had never thought it to be a bad thing when she was young. When she was three, she could remember attending several funerals of clan members who had died in the line of duty. They had died with honor and respect from the whole village. The Hokage himself had been there. Everyone talked about it for days.

And then everyone forgot about it.

Ino shuddered, running her free hand through her hair. She didn't even know why or how she could remember something from so long. Heck, she didn't even know how she could _forget_. Funerals came every year, every month. Her father said that it used to come everyday, during the war. At some point when she had turned Genin she had forgotten about what her job meant. And that was all because of a man. Her looks had meant too much to her. It had meant more than anything to her. It took her a good blow in the ego to wake her up, and several events that led to Uchiha Sasuke being declared an enemy of the five great nations.

And as a fast as she had fallen in love, she had fallen out of it.

And she had started becoming what she had always wanted to be.

But now here came Gaara, and she was starting to wonder if this was what she really wanted to be. But then again, why was she even worried about what _Gaara_ thought, anyway? It was not as if she was going to give up what she's worked for just because she _'sort of'_ liked him.

Right?

"Look, if you're not going in, then can you move over?" came a voice from behind her.

Ino nearly snarled as she whirled around and ended up face to face with none other than Naruto who was looking as annoying as ever with that smirk on his insolent mouth. He was standing there with his hands in his pockets, patiently waiting for her to step away from the entrance of Ichiraku.

"What do you want now?" she muttered, annoyed, but nonetheless stepped sideways to make way for him.

Naruto shrugged. "A bowl or two of miso ramen, and maybe a plate of gyouza on the side. But I don't see why that matters to you." He jerked his head towards the right now empty counter of the ramen house. "But if you don't have anything else to do, this could be your lucky day. Come on. My treat."

Ino took an involuntary step away from him. She narrowed her eyes at him. The only time Naruto would treat anyone for ramen would be the day when pigs flew. Either that, or there was a very, _very_ big catch. "I'm not hungry," she said warily, then turned to leave.

Naruto grabbed her pony tail, tugged at it hard. Ino let out an involuntary cry as she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping on her own feet. Whatever remaining petals on her bouquet pitifully rained down on the ground and she unceremoniously trampled on them as she tried to balance herself.

"Do you want to die?" she demanded loudly as she bent low on her knees and sent a roundhouse kick towards the grinning blond with a force she usually used on a training post.

Naruto let out his signature boisterous laugh as he easily dodged her attack, swatting it away with an open fist. "Nah, not today. And maybe not in another seventy years or so. But I'd want company over ramen. Join me."

"Let me land you a good one first," Ino bargained as she hurled a fist towards his face.

Naruto disappeared so fast Ino didn't even realize he had moved until he reappeared right behind her, tapping her right shoulder. "Aww, don't be such a prude. You're being too uptight. Have a bowl with me."

Ino, finally remembering that this was the _Sixth Hokage_ she was trying to squirm away from, took a deep breath as she straightened up and fought the urge to throw whatever was remaining of her bouquet at Naruto's grinning face. "I can't. I'm busy."

Naruto tucked his fists back into his pocket, giving her a knowing look. "Busy doing what?"

Ino rolled her eyes. It was so much like Naruto to ask a question he already knew an answer to. "Gaara and I… we sort of… _fought_. About… _something_."

"You don't say. Talk to me about it. Over ramen, that is."

Ino scowled at him. "No. I'd rather – "

"Just get in the freaking ramen house, Yamanaka," Naruto interrupted in a tone he usually used when giving out missions. Ino inadvertently snapped her mouth shut at the sudden transition. Naruto nodded, satisfied at her silence, and pushed past through the entrance of Ichiraku, Ino trailing behind him in resignation.

Teuchi, who had always been eager at serving the Hokage ever since he was a little boy, stepped out from behind the curtains of the pantry at the sound of the small bell that announced the arrival of a customer. The old man beamed at the sight of Naruto.

"Hokage-sama. It's only Thursday. I'm surprised you're here on a weekday," said Teuchi as he hurried over the sink to wash his hands.

"Hey there, gramps," Naruto greeted as he settled down on a bar stool comfortably. He looked over his shoulder and gestured at the seat next to him. "I'm here with a friend."

"Ah, Yamanaka Ino! A face I don't often see nowadays," Teuchi said cheerfully when Ino flopped down on the stool next to Naruto after depositing the now unrecognizable bouquet in the dust bin by the entrance. "Chouji was here a while ago for an early lunch. For some weird reason, he was with Gaara." Teuchi gave Naruto a puzzled look. "I don't usually see the Kazekage with anyone else when he visits, unless it was with you."

Naruto shrugged before pulling the menu towards him and flipping through the pages lazily. "He's here visiting someone else this time, gramps."

Ino blinked at what the man said. She was surprised at the news about Gaara eating ramen with her teammate. She had wondered earlier what he had been up to, and Sakura had even asked her about his whereabouts. She did not know how to take the all this. She looked over to Naruto who was still busy with the menu. It was obvious he was merely acting as if he were really reading through what the ramen shop had to offer; it was obvious he was going to have what he always had when he ate over.

Teuchi wiped his hands on his apron. "Is that so? Yes, Gaara-sama and Chouji took a booth seat. Took them the whole morning talking about something I couldn't understand. Not that I was trying to _eavesdrop_ or anything. They looked like they wanted to be left alone so I was cleaning up at the back when I heard them leave. Left the money on the counter along with a healthy tip so I'm not complaining here." He laughed happily. "Who'd have thought I'd have two of the Kage visiting my shop today?"

Naruto chuckled as he looked up from the menu briefly. "We're just ramen-loving losers, gramps. Nothing more, nothing less. Anyway, I'll have your Konoha Special on Miso, 'kay?"

"Coming right up. And what'll the lady have?" Teuchi asked, turning to Ino expectantly.

Ino tried very hard not to grimace. She had just eaten lunch, and she was hardly even hungry at the moment, but the look on the old man's face was something she couldn't disappoint. She smiled. "I'll have a tonkotsu ramen, then."

"And don't forget the garlic gyouza!" Naruto piped in.

"You got it," Teuchi said as he pushed up his sleeves and started rummaging through some stuff behind his counter.

Naruto gestured at the booth behind them. "We're taking the booth over there. You can take your time, gramps." He eyed Ino. "We have all day."

Ino stared back at him, shaking her head lightly. "No we don't. _I _don't." But it was already too late. Naruto had waltzed his way towards the booth that she could only stand up and follow suit.

Ino dropped down in the seat in front of him, leaned on the table and hissed under her breath, "Listen up, you idiot. Gaara had run off – _angrily_, if I may add – to some place I don't know where, right after giving me flowers he wants me to lay down on my grave. I don't have time to eat _ramen_ and _gyouza_ with you!"

Naruto busied himself with arranging then rearranging the condiments in the middle of the table. He smiled. "I was with him about an hour ago."

Ino fell silent immediately. After approximately five seconds of silence, she reached forward, grabbed Naruto by the collar and shook him violently. _"Where is he?"_

Naruto, looking absolutely pleased with himself after getting her attention, peeled her hand off him and leaned back on his seat. "I don't know where he is right now, but he sure gave me a long, undeserved lecture about how I run Konoha. Thanks to _you_."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him as she, too, leaned back on her own seat. She crossed her arms and legs tightly. "You're very welcome," she snarled.

Naruto's hands returned at their fiddling and paused when his fingers touched the pepper. "Ino."

"What?"

"He accused me of robbing my people of individuality because you're fixated on this delusion that the village demands something I've never even once asked of you."

Ino raised an eyebrow at him, admittedly surprised at what he just said. She had expected Gaara to tell Naruto that she was being irrational, or too serious, or like what Sakura had said, _too professional_. Naruto getting the bulk of Gaara's anger didn't even cross her mind. She looked away. "I'll talk to him. I'll tell him this has nothing to do with you."

"But it _has _something to do with me," Naruto corrected, tapping the pepper with a thumb and was silent for a few moments, as if thinking of what to say. After a while, he looked up at her. "Ever since the First's reign, this Village has been ruled with justice, kindness and honor as far as a ninja could muster. We needed to be tough to protect what needed to be protected in the war, and countless lives had to be lost for that cause. The last war we were in – you should know; you were in it – was probably one of the greatest achievements we've ever had, because we've won peace between the Villages for it. The Leaf's history's swamped with honorable deaths, one weighing as heavy as the last. Everyone was prepared to offer their life for the sake of Konoha, and _you're_ equally prepared to do so, as with everyone else I know living in it. But," Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. "That changed. And do you know why?"

Ino met his gaze as steady as she could, and for a moment she thought she saw his light-blue eyes flicker from red to amphibian-like orange before turning blue again. "Why?"

"Because _I _became Hokage. And I'd be _damned_ than have any one of my people – more so my friends – die before I do," Naruto said under his breath, so low that Ino had to strain in order to hear. "I respect your dedication, and I consider you one of the greatest assets of the Leaf under my term. But I had never, _ever_ asked you to lose yourself, what and who you are, for the sake of Konoha. It's the people that make the Village, not the other way around. And I'd like to keep it that way, at least while I'm still alive. And trust me, that would be a very, very, _veeeerrry _long time."

Ino felt a cold shiver run down her spine at what Naruto had said, because she knew that Naruto always kept his promises. And those eyes, once again changing from blue, to red to orange depending on how the light from the open window hit them, were still on her intently. She was still bristling at the fact that he was taking Gaara's courtship too seriously so much so he had to bring up things that necessarily did not have anything to do with them. She shook her head. "What do you want with me?"

"I want you to trust me. And I want you to trust _him_ and just… you know… _live_. I'm sure there's nothing too difficult about that."

Ino shook her head. "Naruto, just because I'm ready to offer my life for the village doesn't mean I'll be careless and intentionally _die _for it. I want to live, and admittedly, Gaara actually showing how patient he could be with my personality's a breath of fresh air; not many people can stand me after all."

"Then stop saying it out loud so lightly. Especially not to _him_. He's gone through enough already. We all have," Naruto said gently, gave her one final nod before reaching out and grabbing some chopsticks poking out from the tall container right next to the condiments. "Lighten up, have some ramen and _chill_." Then, as if to signal the end of his speech, he grinned his trademark ear-to-ear grin and added, "It won't kill to try, anyway."

And for all that its worth, Ino couldn't help but laugh. It was turning out to be a crazy, crazy day. First Sakura, then Naruto. Were they really so intent on fixing her and Gaara up? "You know what? For some really unexplainable reason, you helped me sort out a lot of things going on in my head."

"Yeah?"

"I don't even know how you managed it."

"Coz I'm super cool and the Hokage?" Naruto offered.

Ino snorted. "Yeah, you sure are."

And Teuchi took that moment to appear with two bowls of their orders and a plate of gyouza. "Thanks for waiting. Here you go." He deposited everything on the table in front of them. "If you need anything, I'll be at the back. Seems like you two have something important to talk about so I'll stay out of your way."

Ino grinned up at the man as she pulled her bowl of tonkotsu ramen towards her. "Actually, we've just finished."

Naruto, who was already slurping away his noodles like a starving man, gave Teuchi a thumbs-up sign, which the man took as a light dismissal. He gave the two of them a nod before walking away, disappearing behind the curtains hanging on the door leading back to his pantry.

Ino turned back to Naruto, who was already half-way through his food. She winced as he slurped noisily, looking as un-Hokage-like as anyone could be. "Hey."

Naruto looked up from his bowl. "Hn?"

"Why are you doing this for him?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not _doing_ anything for him."

"Are you doing this for me, then?"

"Hell, no. I'm not doing this for anybody."

Ino readied her own chopsticks and started fishing around her bowl for a fishcake. "Then what _are _you doing?"

"My job," Naruto said simply.

"Your job is to match-make your friends?"

"My job is something you wouldn't understand. Trust me, sometimes I don't understand it, either."

Ino frowned. "I don't get it."

"Not many do," Naruto commented, picking up his bowl with both hands and gulping down the remains of the soup of his ramen. He gave a satisfied sigh before placing it back on the table and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "What, you're not eating."

Ino, who was now staring at him in disbelief at the speed he had devoured his meal, pushed her bowl towards him. "Here. Have it."

Naruto brightened immediately and, without hesitating, pulled the bowl towards him. "See, that's why I like you so much. You share."

Ino couldn't help but smile at the blonde gently. She had grown up with this man and there had been times when they were young that she had made fun of his beliefs. Never in her wildest fantasies did she think he would become what he was right now. If it weren't for the disgusting noises he was making as he gobbled up his ramen, he would have been convincing enough to make her remember that he was really the boy who had made miracles when they were young, and the man that had made the impossible possible as a man. But right now, he was just the ramen-loving idiot who was stuffing his face in front of her. "Naruto. Do you know where he went?"

Naruto looked up and gave her a one-eyed stare from over his bowl. "He never said. He was all, _'I don't know what you're teaching your subordinates, but I think you're handling your people wrong'_ and all that, then he was gone."

Ino rubbed her forehead with a knuckle. So much for her only lead. Well, she could always run around the village looking for him. Given, she still didn't know what she'd say to him once she found her, but it did not rest well with her the fact that he had run off angry at her for an admittedly insensitive remark she had said.

"Are you looking for the Kazekage?"

Ino looked up and over her shoulder and saw Teuchi peeking from between the curtains. "Excuse me?"

Teuchi cleared his throat nervously. "Err, not that I was eavesdropping or anything – I just happened to overhear, you know – when he came over with Chouji that he wanted to stop by the Village Memorial. 'Course, that was a bit iffy, a man from Suna visiting someone here in Konoha's memorial, so I'm not really sure if he could really be there or not… "

Ino narrowed her eyes at the man, thanking the gods that she and Sakura did not eat their lunch here. For someone who did not claim to listen to his customers, he sure knew a lot. "Thank you. Maybe I'll go check the place out."

Naruto smacked his lips in contentment after finishing his second bowl, then gestured at Ino. "You leaving already?"

Ino nodded, already getting up from her seat. This was the best lead she had so far, and she didn't want to miss him in case he really was in the memorial. "Yeah. But thanks. For the ramen. And the talk."

Naruto grinned up at her. "Don't mention it. Meeting you here was pure coincidence, really."

Ino doubted that, but she returned his grin and patted his shoulder lightly. "Sure you did."

"Go get him."

"Yeah." And she was already out of the ramen shop with Naruto ordering his third serving of ramen.

She just hoped that Gaara _really _was there. She didn't normally run around after a guy, and she was not about to ruin her image by having the whole village see her chasing after the Kazekage, even if he were sex on legs.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, especially to those who comforted me in probably one of the lowest points in my life this year. Things happen, and I'm glad that I have fanfiction to distract me from the horrible things happening in real life. And I'm glad to have such understanding readers who actually care. I'll try to update sooner, because there would be but two more chapters before the story ends. Again, thank you all! _


	21. Chapter 21

Konoha's cemetery was located in the outskirts of the village. After Pein's assault many years ago, they had rebuilt the grounds as it had been from the founding of the Leaf. The squat, rectangular marble grave stones for their fallen shone under the afternoon sun by the time Ino had found him. He was not hard to spot; he was the only one there, sitting on the grass with his legs crossed in front of a grave stone Ino knew all too well. She hadn't been aware that Gaara actually knew Sarutobi Asuma well enough to find him here of all places, visiting his grave.

Ino approached him from behind, patting him on the shoulder lightly before kneeling down beside him. "I've been looking all over for you."

Gaara did not move from his place. He had his chin resting on the palm of his hand, his teal eyes trained on the epitaph on the marble stone plaque as if it held the answers to all the questions in the universe. His posture had always been very stiff ever since Ino had started noticing him, but right now, his shoulders were slightly slumped forward and it was as if whatever vigor he had shown her for the past days they had been together had… _disappeared_. Instead here he sat, looking tired and… well, just _tired_.

"Gaara?" Ino tried again, peering up at his face cautiously.

"I lied," Gaara suddenly said, making Ino jump slightly.

"Lied about what?" Ino asked, sitting back on her haunches warily and thinking about whatever possible lie he could have told her.

"Those flowers weren't for your grave. They were for his," Gaara replied, nodding at the grave stone in front of him.

Ino followed his gaze slowly and bit her lower lip uncertainly. "I didn't know you were… _acquainted_."

"Not personally. But the Sarutobi are a great and proud clan, and Asuma was no different. Naruto spoke highly of him. He was your sensei, right?"

And it was at that moment did Ino suddenly feel a huge gap in the pit of her stomach that appeared only when she remembered her teacher. How many years had that been since she felt it last? Six, seven years? She sighed. "Yeah. He died… He was killed when I was sixteen."

"I know. I heard." Gaara glanced at her when she gave him a surprised look. "I was with Chouji earlier. For some weird reason, we ended up talking about Asuma-san. He's been a very important entity in your life."

Ino's brow furrowed, unsure of what to say. The day her sensei died had been one of the most reality-shattering moments of her life. She knew that perhaps if she had been stronger, then maybe Asuma-sensei wouldn't have died. After the war, right before her father had introduced her to Ibiki's squad, she had spent almost every night crying herself to sleep, thinking that if she hadn't wasted so much time making googley-eyes at Uchiha Sasuke and spent more effort in being a better kunoichi, then maybe… maybe things could have turned out differently. If she had paid more attention to Sakura more… If she had better chakra control…

But no, she had spent more time in growing her hair and battling it out with Sakura over a little crush.

Ino rubbed her eyes tiredly. "He had smoked like there was no tomorrow, and we've tried hard to make him quit. He never listened, of course. And before we knew it, Shikamaru's taken up the habit."

"His death must have been… devastating to you."

"There was no time to mourn. We were too busy fighting."

"Fighting who?"

"The men who killed sensei. Akatsuki. You should know the rest." Ino allowed herself to fall back on her behind on the grass, stretching her legs in front of her, her toes touching one corner of Asuma-sensei's grave stone.

"Revenge?" Gaara asked after a moment of silence.

Ino nodded. Yeah. That was all that mattered then. In fact, she wouldn't have had it any other way. They had won. And it had been oh so bittersweet.

Gaara's eyes lowered to his lap. "Naruto doesn't believe in revenge."

"It didn't take long before we stopped believing in it, either."

"Naruto has that effect on people."

Ino laughed. "Yes, he does. Don't you just hate that?"

Gaara paused, thought for a second, then nodded. "In some cases, yes. But it grows on you."

"Like molds on bread."

"Or mushrooms in underground trees?"

Ino caught onto him, and she swatted his shoulder gently. "Don't ever try eating anything remotely poisonous in front of me again."

Gaara looked down at the spot she had hit him, then said, "I think I finally understand where you're coming from."

Ino blinked, surprised at his sudden change of tone. Then, it was as if nature was reading his mood, because there was a sudden strong breeze and the afternoon sun hid behind a clump of clouds above them. She pushed away her bangs from her eyes. "There's nothing to understand. I'm a very simple creature."

"Yes, you are. I don't even know why I was convinced you were more complicated than what you really appear to be." Gaara leaned back on his hands, looking up at the sky with hazy teal eyes. That unruly mop of blood-red hair ruffling in the wind, brushing at the collar of his tunic.

Ino could only watch him, somewhat fascinated by the way those red spikes swayed in the breeze. It was once again that moment when she started to wonder why a man so beautiful could waste his precious time away on a kunoichi that wasn't even showing the least bit of interest in him. Well, given she was _interested_. She was _definitely_ interested; she wasn't going to deny that. But she did not understand why Gaara would exert this much effort just to win her over when he could practically get anyone he wanted.

Ino lowered her gaze as she fiddled with the grass beneath her. "Whatever do you see in me, anyway?"

She jumped when Gaara gently placed his own hand over hers. "Not very much; I feel like you're hiding so many things from me. But what I see is enough." He paused, squeezed her hand lightly. "Chouji told me about how you've always tried to mother everyone around you. Perhaps it comes naturally to you, because it was your sensei's dying wish. But you don't have to worry about me. I can hold my own in pretty much all occasions."

Ino felt her face heating up when his fingers intertwined with hers, and he raised it to his lips slowly. She watched him, almost close to being tantalized as he pressed his lips to her knuckles. She tried to pull away. He held on firmly, eyes meeting hers. She averted her gaze quickly. "I don't even know why you're trying too hard. You practically have every single kunoichi of the Sand falling at your feet and yet – "

"I want _you_."

"Why?" Ino asked, sincerely curious.

Gaara lowered her hand, pressing it to his cheek gently, almost lovingly, making Ino blush even more. "Why shouldn't it be you?"

Ino pursed her lips, searching for a good enough reason to turn him down one final time. She watched him worriedly, a part of her wondering where he was planning to take this conversation.

Gaara gave her hand another squeeze. "I'm not asking you to change, because I can never change my own ideals if someone suddenly asked me to. I know how hard you've worked to be where you are right now, and I admire your dedication when it comes to your Village."

Ino gave him a pained smile. She knew personally from Naruto how Gaara had worked very hard to reach where he was right now, probably even more than she did. Kazekage at sixteen was a feat not many could accomplish. She frowned, wondering why Gaara and Naruto, who had undoubtedly worked even harder than she did, could actually make a smooth transition between _then_ and _now_.

Perhaps that was what made them so much more special than she.

"Is it so wrong to like you this much?" Gaara asked.

Ino let out a small laugh. How stubborn can this man get? "Honestly? I'd have recommended someone else."

And the next thing Gaara did caught her off-guard. One moment he was looking at her with those stoic eyes, holding her hand gently, the next he was grabbing her on both shoulders, pushing her down forcefully on the grass and was on top of her in a heartbeat.

"What do I have to say to you to make you realize that you are good enough – _already too good_ – for me?" Gaara snarled, his fingers digging into her shoulders painfully.

Ino, out of instinct, tried to grab his arms to throw him off of her, but he was just too fast. He had his hands gripping her wrists, holding them on either side of her head, keeping her from freeing herself.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" Ino stammered, for a second frightened at the strength she almost forgot he had. She tried to raise her knee. Gaara shifted his lower body, pinning her knees down with his. The wide open space of the memorial suddenly seemed even wider than it really was. She hoped to the gods that no one suddenly decided to walk in on them. But then again, she was already uncomfortable as it was; Gaara was flush on top of her right _in front of Sarutobi Asuma's grave. _Her sensei would be scandalized if he were watching from heaven.

"I've tried everything. I've tried being passive. I've tried being a gentleman. At one point I tried being perverted, and I even tried getting mad at you. Nothing seems to work on you, Yamanaka Ino," Gaara hissed, his eyes roaming on her face, searching for something only he could know. He looked… _wilder _than usual.

Ino's breath hitched as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Ga-Gaara..?"

"You work with flowers and make anything beautiful with your hands, and that was what drew me to you from the beginning. At a stroke of luck – which you insist to be an _unlucky streak_ – we got together for a few hours in a dark, cold cave, and in that short period of time, I knew I had to get to know you better. I try to get closer, and for some reason you try your best to distance yourself from me by giving excuses like _I deserve someone better_. But I don't need anyone better. I need _you_," Gaara said. Ino shuddered when Gaara suddenly smiled down at her coldly. "I am _Kazekage_. And while I have done everything, even lowered my pride for you, showed you faces so embarrassing I wouldn't have normally let live down, nothing seems to reach you. But because I am what I am, I will show you that the Kazekage gets what he wants."

Ino swallowed hard, squirmed beneath him and suddenly started to panic. The look in Gaara's eyes reminded her of a predator closing in on his prey. She let out a strangled squeak when Gaara suddenly lowered his face so close to hers that the tips of their noses touched. "What are you planning to do?"

Gaara sneered. "What else is there for me to do? Take you by force, of course."

Ino's eyes widened and she felt her face burst into flames. "W-what?!"

Gaara ignored her, and he lowered his head, nuzzling his face against the crook of her neck. Ino gasped when she felt warm lips on her skin make its way up to her jaw, nipping sharply at her earlobe. She shivered, in horror or in pleasure, she couldn't quite tell. But one thing was for sure: she did not entirely hate the sensation. And she knew this because she felt every single muscle in her body turn to mush.

She did not know what it was. It could have been the gentle breeze playing with the grass under them and the clouds above them, causing the strong scent of sage to fill her senses enough to drown all logic that they were, in fact, in a cemetery where anyone could just walk in on them.

Or perhaps it was just the mere thought that Gaara was having his way with her.

And she was liking it.

"Oooh! What are you doing?" said a voice from somewhere to her left.

Ino's eyes, which she didn't even know she had closed, popped open at the sound. At the same time, Gaara raised his face from her neck.

Right beside them, a mere foot away, squatted three little kids carrying pails, shovels and flowers in their tiny hands. It was all so sudden that they couldn't even move from their place.

The girl positioned in the middle of the two boys shyly batted her eyes at Gaara. "You're the Kazekage, aren't you?"

Gaara cast Ino a quick, uncertain look. "Yes," he answered slowly.

Ino felt his grip on her wrists slacken, and she did not know what made her reach for his hands, twining her fingers with his.

At the confirmation that Gaara really was the Kazekage, the two boys' eyes brightened and they burst into happy chatter.

"My momma told me the Kazekage was in the Village! Can you teach me how to do that thing you do with your sand? The thing when you crush your enemies mercilessly into a bloody pulp until they die a painful death?"

Gaara blinked, instantly paling.

The little girl wrinkled her nose. "Don't be an idiot. The Kazekage wouldn't do that in front of girls. Mama told me Gaara-sama is cool and collected and is a gentleman, so he wouldn't do anything gross like that. Right, Gaara-sama?"

Gaara's face turned from white to a pale blue. In a parallel universe, she could have found the humor in this. But given their positions right now, with Gaara's knee still pressed comfortably between her legs, she could not help but feel like the joke was partly on her.

The other boy looked from Gaara to Ino, then back again. "What are you two doing?" he asked innocently.

Ino felt her own face turn pale. She let out a small laugh, gave Gaara a hasty glance before they both said in unison, "Training."

The three kids let out an excited _'Oooh!'_

The girl clapped her hands together happily. "Can we watch?"

"_No,"_ Gaara and Ino snapped at the same time.

The kids' faces fell. "Why not?"

Ino felt her insides churn in disappointment when Gaara suddenly pushed himself off of her, sitting with his back to the kids and running a hand through his hair in obvious frustration.

Ino sat up slowly, straightening her skirt out as she turned to the kids. "Because you have to tend to the graves, remember? That's your mission, right?"

The girl pouted sadly, but she and two boys stood up reluctantly. "Yes, ma'am," they said in unison as they collected their things in their arms and gave Ino and Gaara a longing look.

"Hurry along now," Ino ushered them away.

And as obedient little Academy students, they did as they were told.

And Ino and Gaara were left in the broad expanse of grass and graves, the tension hanging around them so thick she could almost smell it in the air.

Ino turned to Gaara, his back still to her and his hand still in his hair.

"Gaara…?" she tried.

Gaara's fingers grabbed at his hair before sighing and pushing himself to stand. "I'm sorry. It wasn't proper of me."

Ino's eyes widened at him and she scuttled hurriedly to stand beside him. She did not know what it was in his tone that made her worry, but when she tried to reach out and touch his shoulder, he whirled around and faced her, his non-existent brows furrowing intensely as he pinned her a look that came so close to resignation.

She did not know what made her heart go out to him. Perhaps it was the guilt marring his face. She tried to smile at him. "Why don't we talk this over somewhere… _private?" _Ino winced. She could have easily just asked him to push her down and have his way with her again. Because she could not help but wonder what could have happened if no one had interrupted him.

It was Gaara's turn to smile. It did not suit him much; his face looked like it was about to crack. "Ino."

Ino tilted her head to the right, expectantly. "Yes."

"I give up."

Ino blinked, totally caught off guard at what he had just said. She laughed. "What?"

"I'm starting to believe you when you said that luck just isn't on our side. And the worst of me is coming out because I want you so bad that it's starting to scare even myself." Gaara lowered his eyes to his feet. "I don't want to start scaring you, which I could already have, had it not been for those children."

Ino blinked again, rapidly, several times, unable to believe what she was hearing. Just when he had started to catch her attention, was he insinuating that he was _giving up?_ She laughed again. "Wait a minute, Gaara. I honestly didn't… I mean, you pushing me down like that… you were provoked. I have my issues, and I was being difficult and – "

Gaara frowned at her, probably trying to decipher what she was trying to say to him. He shook his head. "To think it was I who told you to treat me as an equal, and then there I was having my way with you because I am Kage. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd start hating me even more."

"I don't hate you! I never have!" Ino declared, suddenly starting to sound a little desperate.

"But you don't like me, either." His eyes were instantly on her, eagerly searching for something that could contradict what he had just proposed.

Ino was dumbstruck. She wrung her hands together nervously, a part of her wanting to throw her arms around Gaara and just tell him that she _sorta_-_kinda_ liked him, too. But there was just something – some _thing _– that held her back.

Gaara nodded silently, and the gesture seemed so final to Ino that she couldn't find the words to tell him not to misunderstand. She extended a hand towards him again, this time to touch his face. But she was too late. In a blink of an eye, he was gone in a whirl of wind and sand, and the next thing she knew she was standing in front of Sarutobi Asuma's grave, alone.

* * *

_A/N: One. More. Chapter! I'm feeling a bit better, to those who wished me well. You guys are awesome._

_Anyway, with this story almost over and I've already started exploring new pairings, I've decided to challenge myself with a KibaHina one, which will probably be a two or three-shot fic. I already have the outline vaguely in my head so it's going to be a quickie. After that I'll be working on my SaiSaku fic, which I have been ignoring for almost a year now. I don't mind doing other works simultaneously, and challenges make me happy, so if you guys have a certain coupling you want to request, know that I am open to them, as thanks for cheering me up on my lowest of lows. I've had a few requests for a ShikaTema, so I thought of working on that, but there's a NejiTen brewing at the back of my mind so that might come first, whichever._


	22. Chapter 22

It should have been easy for Ino to stop caring if a man who was pursuing her suddenly thought it more convenient to give up on her. This had been the story of her life since she had been promoted to Jounin, because this was what she had always wanted. Men were distractions to her dream. Speed bumps on the road leading to her goal to be…

_To be what?_

To be better than Sakura.

To be better in her career.

To be the pride of her family.

These had been her goals. It was strange, because somewhere along the way, she could have sworn she had stopped competing with Sakura. Somewhere along the way, she had risen above and beyond her mentor's expectations. And somewhere along the way, she had matured enough to realize that she had always been the pride of her family.

So, she was starting to wonder what she was really trying her best for, because right now, she was suddenly filled with a strange feeling that she had just turned down probably one of the best things that had ever come her way since the war.

Ino allowed her head to fall forward on the table of Yakiniku-Q, her forehead slamming on the hard surface with a loud thud. She had not seen Gaara for two whole days since their sudden awkward parting in the memorial yesterday, and had it not been for the presence of Temari and Kankurou in the Village, she would have thought that he had returned to the Sand without saying goodbye. She didn't even know why it bothered her that much. It just did. She had tried to look for him, but she knew that when a shinobi did not want to be found, there was no use in looking for him. In the end she had just given up on it completely.

At one point last night, the disappointment in not seeing Gaara had turned to anger, to denial then back to anger. When she woke up that morning, though, the energy she had spent on getting mad at him had simmered down to plain resignation. She wanted – _needed_ – to talk to him, especially since his five-day visa expired tomorrow and he would be bound for the Sand.

She had tried to ask Naruto for help, but for some reason Naruto had managed to pretend that he was too busy to know where Gaara was.

"_He's _you're_ guest,"_ Naruto had said to her, all the while keeping his eyes on the many, many scrolls on his desk. _"Try to keep him out of trouble, okay?"_

Ino groaned against the table as she curled her arms around her head in despair. She did not understand why it was affecting her so much; she was used to ending relationships even before they began. This wasn't supposed to be any different.

_Right?_

"Ino. Are you still alive?"

Ino slowly raised her head and saw Chouji staring down at her skeptically, in one hand a plate of beef briskets while his other hand held his chopsticks gingerly.

"Chouji," she said dully as she returned her face back on the table, feeling sick. "You shouldn't have bothered asking me out today. I'm not good company right now."

"Nonsense! You're always good company to me, Ino. Since you don't eat too much when we go out for barbeque. Which leaves more for me!" Chouji said cheerfully.

Ino's head snapped up and gave Chouji a piercing glare, which the Akimichi conveniently ignored, too busy cooking his meat. "What do you want from me, Chouji? There are other things I can use my time on than eat meat."

That had Chouji pausing from his task, those tilted eyes of his training onto Ino sharply. "Other things? Like what?"

"Like…" Ino frowned, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her palms. "Like… _other things._"

"Like looking all over the village for him?" Chouji suggested innocently. He usually was prudent when it came to these kinds of things. It was strange to have him ask her this question straight out.

Ino felt her face turn red. She looked away. "Yeah, something like that."

"And did you find him?" he asked.

Ino bit her lip, shook her head.

"I thought so," Chouji said as he resumed the task of peppering up his meal. "Since, you know, you weren't really looking hard enough."

Ino's frown deepened. That was not true. She had tried her best to find him. Well… okay, so she might have given up half-way through, but that was because Gaara did not look like he wanted to be found.

"Ino," Chouji suddenly said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" Ino murmured absently and she returned her gaze back to Chouji.

"I worry about you. When Team Asuma started going on their separate ways, everything started to get too busy to catch up on each other, except for these rare moments when we get to eat out together. But hearing about you makes me… _worry._" Chouji deposited his plate on an empty spot to his right and poked at the meat sizzling on the grill in front of him, those pudgy cheeks defined by those pink swirls pulled back by the small smile he had on his lips.

Having Chouji talk like this was all new to Ino. Her teammate had always been the passive one in the group, and most of the time needed a good shove to get him moving. That was why having him this straightforward at saying he was _'worried' _about her made her wonder if she really did anything to make him ask her out for a meal just to talk to her.

Ino gave him an uncertain smile. "Chouji. You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Chouji shook his head slightly, flipping the meat one by one with his chopsticks. "Of course I would worry. You overwork, you seldom get days off. And lately you're acting… strange."

"Strange?" Ino let out a hollow laugh and she self-consciously brushed away her bangs from her face. "I'm not acting strange."

Chouji glanced at her quickly before returning his attention to his food. After a moment of silence, she said, "Gaara-san seemed like a nice guy to me. I was wondering why things wouldn't work out the way he wanted it."

Ino blinked. Why wouldn't things work out? In retrospect, things weren't as complicated as they appeared to be. He liked her. She liked him. But of course, everything boiled down to _her._ Gaara had been nothing but sincere towards her. It was just her pride and her stubborn, stubborn personality that was hindering everything from falling into place. But as expected from her, she immediately jumped to the defensive.

"I tried to look for him. I think he didn't want to see me," Ino offered.

Chouji shook his head again. "He walked around the village as a normal guest would for the past two days. He went to have lunch with me twice. He was around the Academy to address the students yesterday. He was in the hospital to give his regards to Sakura last night. He didn't look like someone who was hiding from you."

Ino did not know what to say. While it was in her nature to raise her walls and try to shift the questions to anyone who tried to back her into a corner, it was hard to get mad at Chouji, simply because Chouji never did anything unless he knew it was going to benefit others; that was just how he was. That, and because he had caught onto her.

Chouji started transferring his cooked meat onto a fresh plate. "I've seen you do this before. I think that's about a couple of years ago."

Ino groaned inwardly, suddenly feeling sick. She knew where this conversation was going.

"I think his name was Wa… err… Watanabe Shun?"

"Watatsuma Shun," Ino corrected.

"Yeah, him. I forget. He's that tall one from Ibiki-san's squad. The one with the nice dimples? You remember him?"

Ino wanted to disappear then and there. How could she forget about him? She covered her eyes with a hand.

Watatsuma Shun had been a nice guy. He had been Ino's training buddy in Ibiki's squad for three whole months, and Sakura had said that she honestly thought he had loved Ino sincerely. That time, Ino had been too absorbed in a new form of mental interrogation designed specially for the Yamanaka clan that she had outright rejected the man even before he could tell her his feelings. After that rejection, working with the man had been… _difficult_. In the end, Ino thought that for the sake of their careers (because it was just that; all about her career), she had tried to apologize to him. She had claimed that she was trying hard to look for him in the village, all the while unconsciously finding where he was so she could avoid him better. After a few months, she had never gotten by with apologizing, and Watatsuma Shun was transferred to a different department by his own request. Ino hadn't given a care.

Because Ino was Ino.

Chouji stuffed two pieces of brisket into his mouth, watched her with steady eyes as he chewed. "You've been avoiding him without even knowing it. Running away by instinct. It's always been like this with you. I'm honestly not surprised to see you doing this again."

Ino peeked from behind her fingers. Chouji had caught onto her. She wasn't at all baffled to know that he was right, though.

Chouji did not look like he was done yet. He smiled, this time putting down his chopsticks; a very rare display for him. "Gaara-san was crushed. He had always struck me as immune to these things. But he honestly looked… sad."

Ino hid back behind her hands. "God. Oh, God."

"Ino," Chouji said. "Look here."

Ino complied, and she lowered her hands onto the table. Chouji was smiling at her knowingly.

"You are a wonderful kunoichi, but I'll have you know that it isn't pride that makes a kunoichi, or a shinobi, great. It's what's _here_, inside," Chouji said, pressing his right hand over his chest.

Ino suddenly felt her own hand traveling to her own chest, pressing her fingers gingerly over her heart. It was beating relatively fast, and she couldn't help but bite her lip as Chouji reached over to her free hand, gripping it tightly.

"Stop running," he said. "Stop pretending like you don't care. Okay?"

Ino felt her breath hitch in her throat as she gave Chouji's hand a squeeze. She did not know what it was with her teammate that made her insides dance in realization. She had been running, lying to herself, denying facts because of her pride. And right now, as she looked down at the table, at her hands in Chouji's, she suddenly started feeling utterly ashamed.

Chouji's smiled widened. "You like him, don't you?"

Ino blinked at her teammate. And for that split second, when she felt time stop for a brief moment, she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. She nodded. "I think… I think I could actually be in love with him."

And in a blink of an eye, even before Ino could react, Shikamaru was leaning at the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, his always bored expression on his face. "Well, if you really think that way, then I suggest you hurry."

Chouji let go of Ino's hand and turned to his best friend. "Shikamaru. What's wrong?"

Shikamaru pinned his glare at Ino, then said, "Right now, Gaara's headed for the gates."

Ino was on her feet in an instant nearly knocking her chair backwards.

Chouji's eyes widened. "You mean – ? But isn't he supposed to leave tomorrow?"

Ino didn't bother to hear his conclusion. She did not have time for anything else. If she did not act now, if she still insisted on letting her pride get in the way with probably the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to her, then Gaara would leave the village, and that would be that. She was out of Yakiniku-Q in a heartbeat, her legs as if acting on their own will as she braced herself for a leap against a wall, bounced agilely over a fence and onto the roof of the restaurant.

Her heart was in her throat as she made her way through the rooftops of the houses in Konoha, headed straight for the main gates of the village. Now that she had just realized – and was willing to admit that she loved him – she was not about to let him go like this.

_If you think you can get away after making me fall in love with you, you pervert, well you've got another thing coming, _Ino thought to herself as she leaped over the chimney of a random household. _You'd better take responsibility on what you've made me into, or I'll kill you._

Of course, that was an empty threat. Killing him was the least of her problems. She didn't even know if she was going to make it to the gates before he left, and she was too much of an ideal Kunoichi to know that she would not be able to follow him outside the gates without the official papers from the Hokage to dismiss her. That was unless she was willing to go rogue in the name of love.

She shook her head roughly. This was not the time to think of stupid things.

It took her a good four and a half minutes to get from one side of the village to the other. She could have gotten there faster had it not been for the route she chose, just in case Gaara was still making his way to the exit. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't anywhere along the road.

And the moment she paused on top of the roof of one of the tea shops near the gates, she immediately understood why.

Gaara was already talking to Konohamaru, who was on gate duty again that day.

She did not know what made the anger bubble up in her gut as she watched Gaara's tall form standing casually as he gestured at Konohamaru about something she could not hear. How dare he leave without saying goodbye to her! How dare he make her feel this way only to give up half-way! Well… okay so she was partly to blame. Playing hard-to-get wasn't her best trait. But even before she could catch herself, she was already bracing herself back on the roof and leaping into the air with a fierce battle cry.

"_Gaaraaaaaaaaaa!"_

She did not know exactly what had happened after. One moment she was in mid-air, the next she was falling like a hot stone towards the earth, straight for Gaara.

Gaara raised his head up too late, a look of shock marring his face a few seconds before Ino tackled him to the ground with so much force that they ended up rolling on the ground several times before they hit a large tree, which stopped them from rolling away any further.

Ino had him right where she wanted him; right under her. She had his hips straddled between her legs, both hands gripping the collar of his shirt in case he did anything funny.

"Ino-nee!" Konohamaru was suddenly beside them, looking absolutely scandalized and unsure of what to do. "Why are you assaulting the Kazekage?!"

Ino ignored the boy, her eyes seeing nothing except the man who was right under her. Gaara stared back at her with stoic, almost emotionless eyes. For some reason, his calmness annoyed her. She shook him roughly. "So you think you can get away from me, after all the things you made me do? You think you can get away with fondling my ass, taking a bath with me and sleeping with me and pretend like it was all _nothing?" _she roared.

That was when Konohamaru started to get the hint. His hands flew to his ears. "I didn't hear anything. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm too young and too innocent to _know_ what you're talking about." He hurried away from them, taking refuge behind the desk at the foot of the large gates of the village.

Ino barely noticed him. She shook Gaara again. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Gaara opened his mouth to speak. "What am I doing to you, exactly?" he asked, looking absolutely unperturbed that he had just been tackled by a mad kunoichi that fell from the rooftops.

Ino snarled at him. "Don't play dumb! You're being unfair to me. You said you'd give me five days! I have until tomorrow to make up my mind!"

Gaara blinked, gently gripping her wrists with his big hands. "What are you talking about?"

Ino gritted her teeth. She could not believe this guy! "You wanted a chance. I gave it to you! I was _this_ close to coming up with a decision in the memorial, and you vanished from right in front of me."

"And you avoided me for two days," Gaara drawled, unfazed. "All the while thinking _I _was avoiding _you_."

Ino swallowed hard. So he was right about that. She scowled even more. "That doesn't matter. I'm here right now."

"And _why_ are you here?" Gaara asked.

"To stop you. And… " Ino felt the strength in her hands leave her immediately, and she looked away. "And to tell you that, yeah. I… think… I kinda… you know…"

Gaara took this opportunity to sit up, propping his back against the tree behind him. He peered up at her face. "What?" he asked expectantly.

Ino touched her face self-consciously, suddenly feeling warm. She gave him a narrow-eyed gaze. "That I think I… like you, too." Okay, so maybe she wasn't ready to tell him that she was madly in love with him. Not yet.

For a split-second, Gaara's teal eyes widened in disbelief, and the hands gripping her wrists tightened almost painfully. "You… so you accept?"

Ino's face grew warmer still. She nodded wordlessly.

Gaara blinked, titled his head to the side. "You came all this way to tell me that?"

Ino nodded again.

Gaara's hand was on her face, gently stroking her cheek with a thumb. There was a small smile tugging at his lips. "You were in such a hurry…"

It was then did Ino's actions started to come back to her. Jumping from the roof. Tackling Gaara. She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder to hide her face from his. "I thought I wouldn't make it."

Gaara paused for a moment, then, "Make it for what?"

"Make it in time to stop you from leaving, what else?"

There was another long pause, then, "But… I wasn't planning on leaving…"

Ino suddenly felt an uncomfortable chill in her spine and she slowly, almost painfully sat back to gaze at Gaara at arms' length. "You… _weren't?"_

Gaara nodded. "Yes."

Ino looked over her shoulder towards the desk where Konohamaru pretended to read the traffic report. When he saw Ino looking, he sank lower in his chair. Ino returned her gaze back to Gaara. "But you… you were headed for the gates... "

"I was going to renew my five-day visa because I thought I was running out of time," Gaara explained. He watched her fidget on his lap.

"But Shikamaru said – " Ino's words were lost to her when realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Now that she looked at it, Gaara was in his casual slacks and a loose white shirt. Not his travel-clothes. Damn it. Kankurou and Temari weren't even with him!

She'd been had.

Again.

She slapped her forehead, feeling like a complete idiot. "I can't believe I fell for that…"

Gaara's nonexistent eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what was happening. "What's wrong? You haven't changed your mind, have you?"

Ino wiped her face with her hand, cast him a hesitant look, then shook her head. "No. It's nothing."

Gaara looked unconvinced, but he nodded. Then he smiled. "So. You like me."

Ino felt her cheek twitch slightly and she tried to scramble off of Gaara's lap. Gaara wouldn't let her. Ino was suddenly aware that they were in the middle Konoha's busiest road, and she was straddling the Kazekage very indecently as if no one could just walk past and see them.

"W-we should continue this talk somewhere else," Ino suggested. Preferably with her _not_ in this position.

"Not until you let me hear it again."

Ino let out an awkward squawk when Gaara pulled her against his chest. "Tell me you love me," he cooed.

Ino blinked, opened her mouth to speak, paused then said, "I never said I _love_ you. I said I _like_ you. Those are two different things."

Gaara's smile widened a fraction. "Wonderful. I extended my visa for another week. Do you think that would be enough to get you to fall in love with me?"

Ino stared at him in disbelief, slapped him on the chest gently, then sneered. "I'd like to see you try."

"Done," Gaara said quickly.

And the next thing had Ino reeling. Because one moment she was thinking about making fun of his confidence, the next he had his hands on either side of her face and his lips were on hers in a gentle kiss that nearly melted her insides.

And a few forevers after, she was opening her eyes she did not even know she had closed, trying to catch her breath as Gaara pulled away from her, watching her with smoky, unfocused eyes, his mouth half-open.

It took Ino a while to get pull herself together. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I think it might be enough…"

Gaara snapped out of his own reverie. "What is? The kiss?"

Ino shook her head. "A week to get me to fall in love with you." Damn, the man kissed like a pro…

Gaara gave her a knowing smirk.

Ino grabbed his collar roughly, pulled him towards her so close his nose brushed hers. She will have to make sure Chouji and Shikamaru didn't try to butt in any further and tell Gaara that Ino was already helplessly in love with him. "If you're lucky, that is."

Gaara's arms were around her waist in a loose hug. "I would like you to know that I'm very, _very_ lucky."

Of course, Ino didn't believe him a bit.

* * *

_Fin_

* * *

_A/N: It's finally done! I was having trouble writing this chapter after having such a depressing turn of events on the manga, but I finally got it out._

_Anyway, thank you for all the GaaIno shippers who read, reviewed, favorited and followed the story until now! This was my second GaaIno story and I enjoyed very much writing it, as you have all been amazing to me! One of these days, when I get more inspiration, I'd like to write more about this couple, and I hope that I get to hear from you guys again. _

_Until my next muse! _

_Ja ne!_


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